Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives $98.30 Average PT from Brokerages

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.30.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $101.53 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $93.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The company has a market capitalization of $165.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $103.25.

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 10.88% 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 122.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 57,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,404,000 after purchasing an additional 31,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 31.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.