MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Given New $600.00 Price Target at Barclays

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $700.00 to $600.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on MSCI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MSCI from $671.00 to $615.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $526.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MSCI from a hold rating to a buy rating and lowered their target price for the company from $613.00 to $569.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Up 4.2 %

MSCI stock opened at $464.81 on Wednesday. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $617.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $545.76 and its 200-day moving average is $538.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its earnings results 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. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.33% and a net margin of 44.55%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 5,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, American National Bank increased its position in shares of MSCI by 1,300.0% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 70 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.