MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Raised to $590.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI – Free Report) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $570.00 to $590.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MSCI. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $650.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $611.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of MSCI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $690.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on MSCI from $700.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $650.13.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSCI

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:MSCI opened at $602.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $567.47 and a 200-day moving average of $565.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 38.15 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI has a 52 week low of $486.73 and a 52 week high of $634.99.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $793.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $794.87 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 110.94% and a net margin of 40.03%.The business’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 45.63%.

MSCI announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $247,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 10,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $536.13 per share, for a total transaction of $5,473,887.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,487,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $797,250,508.11. This represents a 0.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,489,177,000 after buying an additional 165,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,233,000 after buying an additional 39,450 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of MSCI by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,394,117 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,358,446,000 after acquiring an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,146,298,000 after acquiring an additional 34,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,008,745,000 after acquiring an additional 109,287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

About MSCI

(Get Free Report)

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.

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