Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has increased its price target for MSCI stock from $588 to $611, suggesting a potential upside of 10.40% from its previous close, and maintains an "outperform" rating.
• Multiple analysts have expressed a positive outlook on MSCI, with the consensus rating categorized as "Moderate Buy" and an average price target set at $647.70.
• MSCI's recent financial results showed a quarterly earnings per share of $4.17, exceeding expectations, along with a revenue increase of 9.1% year-over-year.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by analysts at Evercore ISI from $588.00 to $611.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the technology company's stock. Evercore ISI's price target indicates a potential upside of 10.40% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of MSCI to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $647.70.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $5.10 on Tuesday, hitting $553.45. The stock had a trading volume of 26,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 608,600. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.33. The stock's 50 day moving average is $563.54 and its 200-day moving average is $559.11. MSCI has a 52-week low of $486.73 and a 52-week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The technology company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.05. MSCI had a net margin of 39.46% and a negative return on equity of 143.13%. The business had revenue of $772.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $763.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.64 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $548.69 per share, with a total value of $46,089.96. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,296,314.19. The trade was a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 12,400 shares of company stock valued at $6,731,599. 3.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 23.2% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 812 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 336.4% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 10.0% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,882 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,123,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 6.5% during the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the second quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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