Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.07.

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cfra upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $92.83 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.40. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Conning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 403,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,929,000 after buying an additional 15,827 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 36.6% during the first quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 47,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,501,000 after acquiring an additional 12,803 shares during the last quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the first quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 81,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Northwest Bancshares Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.6% during the first quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. now owns 3,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

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.