MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $675.00 price objective on the technology company's stock.

MSCI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $643.92.

MSCI Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSCI traded up $4.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $546.73. 508,540 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 565,634. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $558.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $585.72. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from MSCI's previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. MSCI's payout ratio is 51.21%.

Insider Activity

In other MSCI news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 147.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.