MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Sees Large Volume Increase

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 649,913 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 45% from the previous session’s volume of 449,257 shares.The stock last traded at $506.29 and had previously closed at $511.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $544.00 to $617.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered MSCI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Edward Jones assumed coverage on MSCI in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $581.57.

MSCI Trading Down 1.8 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $555.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $539.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.39. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 111.17% and a net margin of 45.42%. The company had revenue of $690.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is a boost from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MSCI in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in MSCI in the third quarter worth $26,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 5,600.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 57 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other 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.