MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $760.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 19.45% from the company’s current price.

MSCI has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on MSCI from $730.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MSCI from $719.00 to $727.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of MSCI from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $650.00 to $700.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $713.50.

MSCI Stock Performance

NYSE MSCI opened at $636.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.34, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. MSCI has a one year low of $501.08 and a one year high of $644.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $595.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $576.53.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The technology company reported $4.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.38 by $0.17. MSCI had a net margin of 40.74% and a negative return on equity of 65.48%. The business had revenue of $850.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $830.91 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that MSCI will post 19.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at MSCI

In other MSCI news, insider Alvise J. Munari sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.04, for a total transaction of $5,920,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,941,357.92. This trade represents a 29.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alken Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of MSCI by 9.1% during the second quarter. Alken Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,200 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MSCI by 79.7% during the 2nd quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 902 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter worth approximately $450,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MSCI in the second quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in shares of MSCI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 89.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MSCI

MSCI Inc is a global provider of investment decision support tools and services for the financial industry. The company is best known for its family of market indexes, which are widely used as benchmarks by asset managers and as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other passive products. In addition to index construction and licensing, MSCI offers portfolio analytics, risk models, factor and performance attribution tools, and a suite of data and technology solutions designed to support portfolio management and trading.

Beyond traditional indexing and risk analytics, MSCI has expanded into environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings, offering data, scores and screening tools that help investors integrate sustainability considerations into investment processes.