MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Equities researchers at Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.88% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on MSCI from $623.00 to $532.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $646.58.

MSCI Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE MSCI opened at $542.26 on Thursday. MSCI has a 12-month low of $439.95 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The company has a market cap of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $562.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $586.71.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total value of $2,621,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in MSCI by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MSCI by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 575 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.