MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Price Target Cut to $575.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $700.00 to $575.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 23.79% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on MSCI. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $638.00 target price on shares of MSCI in a report on Friday, April 12th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $620.00 to $470.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of MSCI from $530.00 to $425.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of MSCI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $613.00 to $569.00 in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $562.87.

MSCI Stock Performance

MSCI stock opened at $464.49 on Wednesday. MSCI has a 52 week low of $439.95 and a 52 week high of $617.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $543.53 and its 200 day moving average is $538.04. The firm has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.06.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.08. MSCI had a net margin of 44.55% and a negative return on equity of 111.33%. The company had revenue of $680.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that MSCI will post 14.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MSCI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MSCI during the 4th quarter valued at about $496,541,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in MSCI by 803.9% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 587,978 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $331,906,000 after acquiring an additional 522,926 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 762,080 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $391,008,000 after acquiring an additional 284,513 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in MSCI by 3,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 253,636 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $143,469,000 after acquiring an additional 246,781 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in MSCI by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 959,894 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $492,502,000 after acquiring an additional 235,290 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.