UBS Group Lowers MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target to $680.00

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $695.00 to $680.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the technology company's stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.43% from the stock's previous close.

MSCI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MSCI from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus increased their target price on MSCI from $520.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI began coverage on MSCI in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $690.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on MSCI from $526.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $624.23.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock traded down $9.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $569.35. The company had a trading volume of 747,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,827. The firm has a market cap of $44.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $579.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $529.06. MSCI has a 1 year low of $439.95 and a 1 year high of $631.70.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $3.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.09. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 143.09% and a net margin of 43.86%. The firm had revenue of $724.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.15 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.45 earnings per share. MSCI's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MSCI will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 239,933 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $134,475,000 after acquiring an additional 21,310 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in MSCI by 9.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 88,097 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $49,307,000 after purchasing an additional 7,718 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MSCI during the 2nd quarter worth about $91,748,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,779 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 313.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 30,456 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $17,069,000 after buying an additional 23,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company's stock.

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.