JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $125.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $129.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 7.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $99.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $160.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.25. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.