Oppenheimer Trims MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Target Price to $648.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by analysts at Oppenheimer from $659.00 to $648.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the technology company's stock. Oppenheimer's price target indicates a potential upside of 16.82% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MSCI. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of MSCI from $588.00 to $638.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, January 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on MSCI from $600.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MSCI from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $581.57.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded up $5.66 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $554.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 271,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 449,101. MSCI has a 1-year low of $451.55 and a 1-year high of $617.39. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $564.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $538.68. The company has a market capitalization of $43.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The technology company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $690.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $662.64 million. MSCI had a net margin of 45.42% and a negative return on equity of 111.17%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSCI. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 141,700 shares of the technology company's stock worth $71,258,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in MSCI by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,237 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,831 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in MSCI during the first quarter worth about $701,000. 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.