MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Given New $700.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $680.00 to $700.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MSCI. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.85.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE:MSCI opened at $617.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.53, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $604.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $576.09. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 162.06% and a net margin of 43.06%. The company had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.15 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. MSCI’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MSCI will post 14.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. MSCI’s payout ratio is currently 42.02%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 30.0% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in MSCI by 52.4% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in MSCI by 29.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,890 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in MSCI by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $104,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 339.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 26,834 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,642,000 after purchasing an additional 20,730 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.