MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Raised to “Buy” at The Goldman Sachs Group

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $723.00 target price on the technology company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $617.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.21% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Redburn Atlantic raised MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.67.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $611.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $600.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.84.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The business had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 14.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. The trade was a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSCI. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MSCI by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in MSCI by 52.4% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in MSCI by 29.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,302,000 after purchasing an additional 4,890 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 339.6% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $15,642,000 after purchasing an additional 20,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scientech Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 188.3% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

MSCI Company Profile

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.