Wells Fargo & Company Raises MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target to $650.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price upped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $545.00 to $650.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 8.70% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MSCI. Evercore boosted their price target on MSCI from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $730.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $638.00 price target on MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered MSCI from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $655.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $692.70.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $597.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $626.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $552.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $562.22.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI will post 19.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 800 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $518.95 per share, with a total value of $415,160.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,493,847 shares in the company, valued at $775,231,900.65. This represents a 0.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew C. Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total value of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,624,640. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,674,093 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,489,177,000 after buying an additional 165,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in MSCI by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,320,761 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,884,233,000 after buying an additional 39,450 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in MSCI by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,755,747 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,581,055,000 after purchasing an additional 361,630 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in MSCI by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,467,556 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,415,713,000 after purchasing an additional 52,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,777,749 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,008,745,000 after purchasing an additional 109,287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

More MSCI News

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat and recurring revenue strength: MSCI reported Q1 EPS and revenue ahead of consensus, driven by recurring sales in Index and Analytics segments and ~14% top-line growth — a clear operational beat supporting longer-term organic growth. MSCI Q1 earnings top consensus, aided by recurring sales in index and analytics segments
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets: Multiple firms have raised targets (examples include UBS, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and RBC), signaling renewed analyst confidence and implying meaningful upside from current levels. UBS raises price target
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend confirmed: MSCI announced a $2.05 quarterly dividend (ex-dividend May 15), maintaining shareholder returns and supporting income-oriented investor interest.
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder votes completed: At the April 21 annual meeting, shareholders backed the board, executive pay plan and auditor — removes governance uncertainty for the near term. MSCI Shareholders Back Board, Pay Plan and Auditor
• Neutral Sentiment: External review unchanged: An external review found MSCI’s risk profile unchanged from its 2025 10-K, suggesting no new material disclosures are required. MSCI External Review Finds Risk Profile Unchanged
• Negative Sentiment: Index treatment for Indonesia remains unsettled: MSCI has extended its final call on Indonesia equities (index suspension/extensions and regulatory response), which can delay index inflows for Indonesian securities and create short-term revenue uncertainty for index-related products. MSCI extends final call on RI equities to June review

About MSCI

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.