MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Given New $662.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley cut MSCI’s price target to $662 from $700 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 17.47% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average price target of $705.92; targets from other firms range from $615 to $760.
• MSCI’s latest quarterly results slightly missed estimates, with EPS of $4.94 versus $4.99 expected and revenue of $867 million versus $870.71 million forecast, although revenue increased 12.2% year over year.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $700.00 to $662.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.47% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $690.00 target price on MSCI in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Friday, July 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $760.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group set a $615.00 target price on MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore set a $722.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MSCI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $705.92.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $4.44 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $563.57. 146,558 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 630,721. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI has a 52-week low of $501.08 and a 52-week high of $644.77. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $559.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $574.63.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The technology company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.99 by ($0.05). MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. The company had revenue of $867.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $870.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.17 earnings per share. MSCI's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MSCI will post 19.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 48 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter worth $27,000. Compound Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter valued at $34,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new stake in MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MSCI Company Profile

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.

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