MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Now Covered by Analysts at Bank of America

Stock analysts at Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.31% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $646.58.

MSCI Stock Up 8.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI opened at $550.28 on Thursday. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45. The firm has a market cap of $42.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $564.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $587.09.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 120.0% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.