MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Given New $655.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised its price target for MSCI from $625.00 to $655.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.09% from the current stock price.
• The company reported $4.17 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and showing a 9.1% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• MSCI maintains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with ten investment analysts rating it as a Buy, and a consensus price target of $652.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $625.00 to $655.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the technology company's stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MSCI. UBS Group increased their price objective on MSCI from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial raised MSCI from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MSCI from $578.00 to $533.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $652.45.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $2.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $582.77. 722,142 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,666. The business's fifty day moving average is $563.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.44. MSCI has a 12-month low of $486.73 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.34.

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

MSCI Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. MSCI's payout ratio is 47.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 84 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $548.69 per share, for a total transaction of $46,089.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,279,951 shares in the company, valued at $702,296,314.19. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders bought 12,400 shares of company stock worth $6,731,599. Company insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,508,242 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $5,483,783,000 after buying an additional 131,390 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,281,311 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,892,463,000 after buying an additional 45,547 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY grew its holdings in MSCI by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 2,170,333 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,251,718,000 after buying an additional 98,680 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MSCI by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,993,524 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,146,298,000 after buying an additional 34,335 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSCI by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,626,923 shares of the technology company's stock worth $920,026,000 after purchasing an additional 13,918 shares during the period. 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.