MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Given New $530.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price objective cut by equities researchers 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 target price would indicate a potential downside of 4.48% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MSCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $617.00 to $723.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $585.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MSCI from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MSCI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.42.

MSCI Price Performance

Shares of MSCI traded down $1.68 on Wednesday, hitting $554.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 38,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 566,930. The company has a market capitalization of $43.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.50, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $560.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $586.46.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $3.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MSCI news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,269,951 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.25, for a total transaction of $2,621,250.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 294,787 shares in the company, valued at $154,542,084.75. This trade represents a 1.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MSCI

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in MSCI during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in MSCI by 122.6% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 69 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in MSCI by 147.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 89 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 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.