MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Keeps Outperform Rating at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its “outperform” rating on MSCI and set a $655 price target, implying approximately 9.5% upside. Analysts overall maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average target of $690.14.
• MSCI exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.11 in EPS versus the $5.03 estimate and $892 million in revenue, up 12.4% year over year.
• MSCI shares opened at $598.17, while institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 89.97% of the stock; the company’s CFO recently sold 450 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $655.00 price objective on the technology company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target suggests a potential upside of 9.50% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group set a $615.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore set a $722.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded MSCI from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twelve have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $690.14.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $598.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $559.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $576.20. MSCI has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $644.77. The stock has a market cap of $43.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $5.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $887.83 million. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 55.19%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI will post 19.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI 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 transaction of $256,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,337,080. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth approximately $5,311,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in MSCI by 2.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 280,912 shares of the technology company's stock worth $151,401,000 after purchasing an additional 5,469 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in MSCI during the second quarter worth approximately $1,069,000. Andra AP fonden boosted its position in MSCI by 477.6% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 15,480 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,669,000 after purchasing an additional 12,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in MSCI by 54.7% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 7,100 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,074,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly earnings beat expectations: MSCI reported $892 million in third-quarter revenue, up 12.4% year over year, and EPS of $5.11 versus the $5.03 consensus estimate. Double-digit revenue and adjusted-EPS growth supported investor confidence. MSCI Reports Financial Results for Third Quarter and Nine Months 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Index and asset-based fee momentum was strong: Index revenue increased 18.1%, while asset-based fees rose 24.9%. ETF assets reached a record $2.90 trillion, and hedge-fund index subscription run rate increased 32%, indicating continued demand for MSCI’s benchmarks and data. MSCI Jumps After Q3 Revenue Beat Led by Its Index Business
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and capital returns: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its “outperform” rating and set a $655 price target. MSCI also declared a $2.05 quarterly dividend and repurchased substantial amounts of stock, reinforcing its shareholder-return appeal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Indonesia index controversy: MSCI’s warning that Indonesia could be downgraded or removed from emerging-market benchmarks has pressured Indonesian equities, but the issue is primarily related to MSCI’s index-governance role and has not affected the company’s reported operating results. MSCI's Case Against Indonesian Stocks and the $65 Billion Fallout
• Negative Sentiment: Cash-flow remains a watchpoint: Results coverage noted declining free cash flow despite the earnings beat, although management affirmed its free-cash-flow guidance.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc NYSE: MSCI is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, banks and other financial institutions. The company is best known for developing equity, fixed-income and multi-asset indexes used to benchmark portfolios and support the creation of investment products such as exchange-traded funds.

In addition to its indexes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management and performance-attribution tools, as well as research and data covering environmental, social and governance factors, climate risk and sustainable investing.