Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $131.27.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $118.21 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $190.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.62.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other 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.