Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Raised to “Buy” at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $118.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $102.68.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $107.88 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $100.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market cap of $175.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 247.2% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after buying an additional 15,903 shares during the last quarter. 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. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by 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.