MSCI’s (MSCI) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $638.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $600.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $575.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $570.53.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $486.81 on Tuesday. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $617.39. The stock has a market cap of $38.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $486.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $531.54.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $680.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.66 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit acquired 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,705,767.58. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $459.41 per share, for a total transaction of $3,445,575.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 291,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,705,767.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $465.92 per share, for a total transaction of $6,056,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 327,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $152,579,015.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the first quarter worth $26,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the first quarter worth about $34,000. American National Bank increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides critical decision support tools and solutions for the investment community to manage investment processes worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial product, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct.