Brokerages Set MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Target Price at $659.00

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $659.00.

Several research firms have commented on MSCI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $715.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MSCI from $590.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

More MSCI News

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha highlights a 13.9% dividend increase and continued double-digit growth outlook for MSCI, a direct positive for income and total-return investors. MSCI: 13.9% Dividend Hike And Double-Digit Growth
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI-driven index additions in major markets (example: Aditya Birla Capital and L&T Finance added to MSCI Global Standard Index) are expected to trigger sizable passive flows into the included stocks, underscoring the commercial importance of MSCI’s index decisions and supporting its recurring-fee franchise. Birla Capital, L&T Finance enter MSCI Index
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI’s increased exposure to Chinese tech in recent revamps (and resulting market moves) illustrates the firm’s influence on global flows and index composition, which can sustain demand for MSCI’s index products and data services. China Stocks Climb as MSCI Boosts Exposure
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing trend of adding crypto-related and microcap names to MSCI indexes (examples reported this week) demonstrates expanding coverage breadth and keeps MSCI at the center of passive rebalances — a structural tailwind for its indexing and data business. Another crypto firm joins MicroStrategy in MSCI index
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts note MSCI inclusions tend to spur foreign investor interest into affected markets — a market dynamic that benefits index users and validates MSCI’s market impact, but doesn’t directly change MSCI’s revenue mix in the short term. MSCI inclusions to spur foreign interest – analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly/annual commentary (Baron Fund note and coverage summaries) describes MSCI as holding steady amid macro and market challenges — supportive context but not a near-term stock mover on its own. MSCI (MSCI) Held Steady Amid Challenges
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/political friction surfaced after an MSCI “freeze” prompted government attention (Indonesia example), which can create short-term volatility in affected markets and raises governance/public-relations risk around index actions. Luhut Preps Recommendations to Improve Market After MSCI Freeze

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $536.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,227,829.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 335,069 shares in the company, valued at $179,653,945.73. The trade was a 0.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $247,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,639 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,901,450. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in MSCI by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 737,063 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $422,875,000 after acquiring an additional 89,399 shares during the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 3,426 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 1,536 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in MSCI by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 212 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $557,000. Finally, PCM Encore LLC purchased a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at $329,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MSCI Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $526.21 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $573.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.99. The stock has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.29. MSCI has a 12 month low of $486.73 and a 12 month high of $626.28.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $822.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.51 million. MSCI had a net margin of 38.36% and a negative return on equity of 82.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.18 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.80. This represents a $8.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. MSCI’s payout ratio is 52.26%.

MSCI announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MSCI Company Profile

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.