MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Upgraded at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $569.00 target price on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $613.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of MSCI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a peer perform rating on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of MSCI from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $562.87.

MSCI Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $477.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $541.71 and its 200 day moving average is $537.78. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $617.39.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in MSCI by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,260,105 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,159,615,000 after acquiring an additional 15,184 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,893,728 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $971,634,000 after buying an additional 30,528 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,725,215 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $976,009,000 after buying an additional 151,108 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,460,634 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $749,422,000 after acquiring an additional 179,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,038,761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $587,575,000 after acquiring an additional 44,234 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.