MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Rating Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) was upgraded by research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $723.00 price target on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $617.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 20.38% from the stock’s previous close.

MSCI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on MSCI from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.67.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $600.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.10. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $600.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $557.43.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $724.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.15 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in MSCI by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 975 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 76.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,209 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,117,000 after acquiring an additional 5,283 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 26.2% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 919 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 66.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,412 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,780,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $897,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.