MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $699.7273.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MSCI. UBS Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $655.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 5,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,560,000. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,406,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,302,000. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in MSCI by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 26,665 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,299,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $603.63 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $592.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $574.97. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $501.08 and a fifty-two week high of $644.68. The company has a market cap of $43.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $830.91 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 65.48% and a net margin of 40.74%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.00 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 19.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 46.83%.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.