Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for MSCI (NYSE:MSCI)

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $675.00 target price on the technology company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 21.65% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.42.

MSCI Trading Down 0.3 %

MSCI traded down $1.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $554.89. 38,670 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 566,930. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $560.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $586.46. MSCI has a one year low of $439.95 and a one year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in MSCI by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in MSCI by 147.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 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.