MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Raised to $578.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $530.00 to $578.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the technology company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on MSCI. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on MSCI from $673.00 to $631.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MSCI from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $651.55.

MSCI Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE:MSCI traded down $15.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $565.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 635,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,791. MSCI has a 12-month low of $486.74 and a 12-month high of $642.45. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $564.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $569.30. The stock has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.84, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.32.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The technology company reported $4.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.12. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 145.52% and a net margin of 39.08%. The business had revenue of $745.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $746.45 million. Analysts predict that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This represents a $7.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. MSCI's dividend payout ratio is 49.48%.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In related news, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $552.59, for a total value of $2,762,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 289,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $160,133,398.33. This represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in MSCI by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,376,852 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,302,610,000 after acquiring an additional 518,833 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MSCI by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,897,456 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,136,563,000 after acquiring an additional 35,094 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.9% in 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in MSCI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $609,937,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in MSCI by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,008,778 shares of the technology company's stock worth $570,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,846 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.