Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $118.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $115.00 to $118.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $90.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 810.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.