MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Rating Reiterated by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $638.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

MSCI has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $659.00 to $648.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They issued a buy rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $581.57.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $513.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $558.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $539.26. MSCI has a 1 year low of $451.55 and a 1 year high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The business had revenue of $690.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aspiriant LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the first quarter valued at $229,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $75,000. City Holding Co. increased its stake in MSCI by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 4,659 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,611,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363 shares during the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Crestmont Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC now owns 571 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

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.