Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT Raised to $122.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $108.00 to $122.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $119.45 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $121.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.10. The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,305,000 after buying an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 16,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,558,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.