Morgan Stanley’s (MS) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a $105.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MS. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and cut their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $96.62 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.15. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $157.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 328.0% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 11,295 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 72,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,799,000 after acquiring an additional 6,745 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $319,000. 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.