MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Cut to $650.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $680.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the technology company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America started coverage on MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.92.

MSCI Trading Down 2.4 %

MSCI stock opened at $543.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.19 billion, a PE ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $560.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $586.17. MSCI has a 12 month low of $439.95 and a 12 month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 38.83% and a negative return on equity of 156.08%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.21%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 66.0% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 107,035 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $60,528,000 after buying an additional 42,560 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the first quarter valued at $90,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSCI by 105.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,762 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,783,000 after buying an additional 7,063 shares during the period. Finally, Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its stake in MSCI by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 913 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 40 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.