MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $628.34, but opened at $595.95. MSCI shares last traded at $594.19, with a volume of 167,222 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSCI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of MSCI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $680.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MSCI from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 for the company. UBS Group cut their target price on MSCI from $695.00 to $680.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MSCI from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSCI presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.85.

MSCI Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $606.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $581.42.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $4.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.22. MSCI had a net margin of 43.06% and a negative return on equity of 162.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MSCI Inc. will post 14.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Henry A. Fernandez acquired 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $612.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,777,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 330,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $202,456,251.20. This represents a 0.89 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MSCI by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of MSCI by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 418 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 492 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in MSCI by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in MSCI by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 77 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 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.