MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Cut to $650.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $680.00 to $650.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the technology company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target points to a potential upside of 18.89% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MSCI. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $585.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MSCI from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $617.00 to $723.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MSCI from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of MSCI from $532.00 to $530.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $643.92.

MSCI Price Performance

NYSE MSCI traded up $4.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $546.73. The company had a trading volume of 508,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 565,817. The firm's 50 day moving average is $558.86 and its 200 day moving average is $585.69. MSCI has a fifty-two week low of $439.95 and a fifty-two week high of $642.45. The company has a market capitalization of $42.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.30.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $574.51 per share, for a total transaction of $3,044,903.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,269,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $729,599,549.01. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Cd Baer Pettit sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSCI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of MSCI by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 174,982 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $104,991,000 after purchasing an additional 41,346 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of MSCI by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 536,211 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $312,574,000 after acquiring an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC increased its stake in MSCI by 3,581.3% in the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in MSCI by 76.3% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Threadgill Financial LLC lifted its stake in MSCI by 255.4% during the fourth quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the technology company's stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. 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.