Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $91.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and set a $91.00 target price (down from $102.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $94.16 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market cap of $153.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.77 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.76%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,284,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,645 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,380,000 after purchasing an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,392,000 after purchasing an additional 575,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.