Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $102.00 at HSBC

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target boosted by HSBC from $100.00 to $102.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MS. Cfra boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $90.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $147.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.92. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the first quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 4,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.9% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. 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.