MSCI’s (MSCI) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Posted by Geri Gentry on Oct 24th, 2026

Royal Bank Of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of MSCI (NYSE:MSCI – Free Report) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $655.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MSCI. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MSCI from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on MSCI from $715.00 to $730.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings cut MSCI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MSCI from $662.00 to $671.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $684.00 price objective on shares of MSCI in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twelve have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.93.

Get Our Latest Research Report on MSCI

MSCI Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MSCI stock opened at $615.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $562.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $577.42. MSCI has a twelve month low of $501.08 and a twelve month high of $644.77.

MSCI (NYSE:MSCI – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The technology company reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.03 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $892.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $887.83 million. MSCI had a negative return on equity of 50.69% and a net margin of 40.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MSCI will post 19.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MSCI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a $2.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $8.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. MSCI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew Wiechmann sold 450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.00, for a total transaction of $256,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,337,080. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 3.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MSCI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in MSCI by 7.0% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,303 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in MSCI by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,992 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in MSCI by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in MSCI by 0.5% in the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,949 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,743,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBL Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MSCI in the third quarter valued at $347,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.97% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting MSCI

Here are the key news stories impacting MSCI this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings exceeded expectations. MSCI reported adjusted EPS of $5.11 versus the $5.03 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 12.4% year over year to $892 million, above forecasts. Management also highlighted continued growth in AI-related products, recurring subscriptions and diversified client demand. MSCI Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable. JPMorgan raised its price target, while RBC reaffirmed an Outperform rating. Other sell-side analysts have maintained Buy ratings, suggesting confidence in MSCI’s earnings growth and high-margin business model. JPMorgan price target update
Neutral Sentiment: Indonesia’s regulator imposed significant enforcement penalties. Record fines totaling about $117 million for market-manipulation and IPO-disclosure violations could address MSCI’s transparency concerns, but the impact on the final market-classification decision remains uncertain. Indonesia market violation fines
Negative Sentiment: The proposed Indonesia downgrade is creating political and reputational risk. MSCI’s warning that Indonesia could be reclassified from an emerging market to a standalone market triggered a local stock-market selloff and public criticism from President Prabowo. Investors may worry about pressure on MSCI’s relationships with governments and index-linked fund flows, although the issue is not expected to materially change MSCI’s near-term financial results. Indonesia downgrade controversy
Negative Sentiment: Valuation and fund-selling add pressure. MSCI trades at a premium earnings multiple, and Polen Capital disclosed that it exited its MSCI position to fund a Meta Platforms investment. This reinforces concerns that much of MSCI’s strong growth outlook is already reflected in the stock price. Polen Capital exits MSCI

MSCI Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

MSCI Inc (NYSE:MSCI) is a global provider of investment decision-support tools and services for institutional investors, asset managers, banks and other financial institutions. The company is best known for developing equity, fixed-income and multi-asset indexes used to benchmark portfolios and support the creation of investment products such as exchange-traded funds.

In addition to its indexes, MSCI provides portfolio analytics, risk-management and performance-attribution tools, as well as research and data covering environmental, social and governance factors, climate risk and sustainable investing.