Jefferies Financial Group Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $135.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective upped by Jefferies Financial Group from $120.00 to $135.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.51% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MS. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC raised shares of 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $121.07 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $121.45. 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 $196.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.29.

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other 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 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 approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s 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 owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $798,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $81,000. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 134.6% in the first quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 3,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the period. 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.