MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Raised to $700.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $680.00 to $700.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group dropped their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.85.

MSCI Trading Up 0.9 %

MSCI stock opened at $617.34 on Tuesday. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $604.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $576.09. The firm has a market cap of $48.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 42.02%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in MSCI by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.