Investment Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for MSCI (MSCI)

MSCI (NYSE: MSCI) recently received a number of ratings updates from brokerages and research firms:

• 1/30/2025 – MSCI had its price target lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $700.00 to $680.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – MSCI had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $700.00 to $675.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/30/2025 – MSCI had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada. They now have a $675.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/21/2025 – MSCI had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $680.00 to $700.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 12/18/2024 – MSCI was upgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They now have a $723.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $617.00.
• 12/12/2024 – MSCI had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $662.00 to $695.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 12/12/2024 – MSCI was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating.

MSCI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MSCI traded up $2.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $584.69. The company had a trading volume of 855,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 504,721. MSCI Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.95 and a twelve month high of $642.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $606.94 and its 200-day moving average is $583.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 41.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.11.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share 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 period last year, the company posted $3.68 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MSCI Inc. will post 16.85 EPS for the current year.

MSCI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from MSCI’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.60. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.52%.

Insider Activity at MSCI

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez purchased 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $612.80 per share, with a total value of $1,777,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at $202,456,251.20. This trade represents a 0.89 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MSCI by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,396,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MSCI during the 4th quarter worth about $296,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 283,402 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $170,044,000 after purchasing an additional 83,692 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MSCI by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,144 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 2,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of MSCI by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 517,769 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $310,667,000 after purchasing an additional 10,436 shares during the period. 89.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.