Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given New $126.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $144.00 to $126.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.35% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE MS traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $118.48. 463,770 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,087,771. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.73. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $191.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.91, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 77,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,070,000 after buying an additional 5,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.