Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Stock Price

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $532.00 to $530.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the technology company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential downside of 0.15% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their target price on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $643.92.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of MSCI stock traded down $16.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $530.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 271,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 574,521. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $558.86 and a 200-day moving average of $585.67. The stock has a market cap of $41.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 156.08% and a net margin of 38.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $574.51 per share, with a total value of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares in the company, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $154,542,084.75. The trade was 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MSCI by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 63 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in shares of MSCI in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 122.6% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in MSCI by 147.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MSCI Company Profile

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.