Wells Fargo & Company Cuts MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target to $532.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $623.00 to $532.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential downside of 0.64% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MSCI. Wolfe Research upgraded MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $642.08.

MSCI Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MSCI traded up $28.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $535.41. 446,445 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 565,149. The stock has a market cap of $41.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.13, a PEG 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $565.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $587.41.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that MSCI will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $2,621,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of MSCI stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 120.0% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 44 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 293.8% during 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 position in shares of MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in shares of MSCI by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.