MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Seaport Res Ptn

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) was upgraded by Seaport Res Ptn to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $650.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.45.

MSCI Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE MSCI opened at $561.64 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $563.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.60. The company has a market capitalization of $43.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.33. MSCI has a 1-year low of $486.73 and a 1-year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $772.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.13% and a net margin of 39.46%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 9,916 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $544.70 per share, for a total transaction of $5,401,245.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,279,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,143,554.90. This trade represents a 0.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 136.4% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 52 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 66 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 22 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.