MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Cut to $675.00 by Analysts at Barclays

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Barclays from $700.00 to $675.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 13.57% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MSCI. Wolfe Research raised shares of MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $647.92.

MSCI Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $594.33 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $606.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $581.42. The stock has a market cap of $46.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in MSCI by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.