MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Rated “Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $701.17.

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $760.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $685.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total value of $256,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,337,080. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth about $3,062,626,000. Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,798,710,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,446,291 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $829,781,000 after acquiring an additional 168,405 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $480,613,000. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $301,493,000. Institutional investors own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: MSCI’s upcoming third-quarter results are expected to benefit from strong demand for indexes, ETF inflows and growth in private-capital products. Analysts at RBC anticipate a modest earnings beat, offering a potential near-term catalyst. MSCI earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: MSCI launched a consultation to move Indonesia’s indexes from emerging-market to standalone status, with a final decision expected by June 2027. Although disruptive for Indonesian markets, the process reinforces MSCI’s role as a key global benchmark provider and may increase attention to its index-governance services. MSCI Indonesia reclassification consultation
• Neutral Sentiment: MSCI is also consulting on new index-eligibility rules that could eventually remove Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, from some indexes. Existing constituents reportedly must fail eligibility screens across two consecutive annual filing periods, so the financial impact is not immediate. Strategy index eligibility proposal
• Neutral Sentiment: MSCI froze its Turkey indexes while market-access concerns remain under review. The action demonstrates stricter methodology enforcement but could create uncertainty for index-linked products and affected clients. MSCI Turkey index freeze
• Negative Sentiment: The Indonesia proposal has triggered a sharp sell-off in Indonesian equities and raised concerns about foreign outflows. The resulting criticism and political scrutiny may increase uncertainty around MSCI’s emerging-market franchise, even though the decision is still under consultation. MSCI Indonesia downgrade warning
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its MSCI price target from $700 to $662 while maintaining an Overweight rating. The cut reflects more cautious valuation expectations ahead of earnings, despite continued analyst support. MSCI price target reduction

MSCI Stock Down 1.3%

MSCI traded down $7.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $567.85. The stock had a trading volume of 883,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 545,007. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $558.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $575.34. MSCI has a 1 year low of $501.08 and a 1 year high of $644.77. The stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.99 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $870.71 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. MSCI’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MSCI will post 19.55 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $2.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio is 44.86%.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, banks, wealth managers and other financial professionals. The company is best known for its equity, fixed-income and multi-asset-class indexes, which are used as benchmarks and as the basis for investment products such as exchange-traded funds and other index-linked strategies.

In addition to indexes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management and performance-measurement tools designed to help clients evaluate exposures, construct portfolios and manage investment risks.