Msci's Analytics Acceleration Offsets ESG Decline, Resulting in Strong Quarterly Performance

Wells Fargo's Seth Weber raised their price target on Msci (NYSE: MSCI) by 7.3% from $615 to $660 on 2024/01/31. The analyst maintained their Strong Buy rating on the stock. Weber's optimism comes on the back of a "remarkable acceleration" in analytics, which offset the predicted decline in ESG and climate. Msci's fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 results, released on January 30, surpassed expectations, leading to a robust quarterly beat and "constructive" FY 2024 guidance.

Weber believes that Msci's Index/Analytics segment will benefit from the strengthening market backdrop and the acceleration of emerging market flow. This positive outlook is shared by other analysts who also updated their ratings on January 31.

Goldman Sachs analyst George Tong raised their price target on Msci by 13.4%, from $544 to $617, while maintaining their Hold rating on the stock. RBC Capital's Ashish Sabadra increased their price target by 8.5%, from $588 to $638, and maintained their Buy rating. Barclays analyst Manav Patnaik raised their price target by 16.7%, from $600 to $700, and also maintained their Strong Buy rating.

It is worth noting that all top-rated analysts currently rate MSCI as a Strong Buy or Buy. No analysts see it as a Hold, and there are no recommendations to sell the stock. This positive sentiment is further reinforced by the consensus forecast among analysts, which predicts that MSCI's upcoming year will deliver earnings per share (EPS) of $14.1. If these predictions hold true, MSCI's next yearly EPS will be up by 17% on a year-over-year basis.

However, despite the positive analyst ratings, MSCI's stock price has declined by 0.6% since the release of its latest quarterly report on January 30. On a year-over-year basis, the stock is up by a healthy 12.6%. Nevertheless, during this period, MSCI has been trailing behind the S&P 500, which has shown a growth of 18.9%.

Wells Fargo analyst Seth Weber, who raised the price target on MSCI, is ranked in the top 16% of Wall Street analysts by WallStreetZen. With an average return of 6.6% and a win rate of 59.7%, Weber specializes in the Technology and Consumer Cyclical sectors, among others.

MSCI Incorporated is a company that provides investment decision support tools used by clients to manage investment processes. Its indexes are widely used in various areas of the investment process, including indexed product creation, performance benchmarking, portfolio construction and rebalancing, and asset allocation. The company serves a diverse range of clients, including asset owners and managers, financial intermediaries, wealth managers, real estate professionals, and corporations. MSCI was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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