Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.33 EPS

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33, Briefing.com reports. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.98 on Wednesday, hitting $90.12. 6,774,952 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,901,383. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.78. The company has a market cap of $146.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $340,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 255.5% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 7,797 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $461,000. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Dell Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.