MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Lowered to $675.00 at Barclays

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price reduced by Barclays from $700.00 to $675.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI started coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MSCI from $680.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.23.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $590.36 on Thursday. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.27 billion, a PE ratio of 41.99, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $606.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $581.51.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 168.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI will post 16.91 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s payout ratio is 45.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,042,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,978 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its position in MSCI by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,077,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,000. 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.