MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Cut to $425.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price cut by Bank of America from $530.00 to $425.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the technology company’s stock.

MSCI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a hold rating to a buy rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $477.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $541.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $537.90. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.47 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 121.86% and a net margin of 44.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.60 per share. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in MSCI by 7.6% in the first quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 797 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 35.7% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 612 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in MSCI by 1.4% in the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,210 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,964,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the first quarter valued at about $1,353,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in MSCI by 426.0% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 1,094 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.