Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $121.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $106.00 to $121.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $119.45 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $121.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $194.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.10.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.