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

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $638.00 target price on the technology company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus raised their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $624.23.

MSCI Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded down $9.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $569.35. The stock had a trading volume of 747,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,827. MSCI has a 1-year low of $439.95 and a 1-year high of $631.70. The company has a market capitalization of $44.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $579.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $529.34.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a net margin of 43.86% and a negative return on equity of 143.09%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.45 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. MSCI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the third quarter valued at $258,000. ASB Consultores LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $258,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 10.9% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the technology company's stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. raised its stake in MSCI by 13.9% during the third quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 1,479 shares of the technology company's stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in MSCI in the third quarter valued at approximately $243,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.