MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Given New $760.00 Price Target at Raymond James Financial

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price boosted by Raymond James Financial from $730.00 to $760.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “strong-buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Raymond James Financial’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 26.75% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on MSCI from $710.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $699.73.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $599.62 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $592.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $574.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $501.08 and a fifty-two week high of $644.68.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The company had revenue of $850.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $830.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that MSCI will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total value of $5,920,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,548 shares in the company, valued at $13,941,357.92. This represents a 29.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 375 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 568 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC raised its position in shares of MSCI by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 622 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,074 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of MSCI by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC now owns 830 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

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.