Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives $101.73 Average PT from Analysts

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $101.73.

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of MS opened at $102.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,228,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,292,000 after purchasing an additional 495,055 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.