JMP Securities Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by investment analysts at JMP Securities in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.48.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.6 %

MS opened at $91.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.61. The company has a market cap of $149.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 4,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 3,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 3,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 126 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.