JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Price

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $680.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.88% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MSCI. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $643.92.

MSCI Stock Down 2.5 %

MSCI traded down $13.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $533.32. 916,762 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 567,223. The company's 50-day moving average is $558.86 and its 200 day moving average is $585.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.41 billion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSCI

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez bought 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of MSCI by 147.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 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.