Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Rating Upgraded by HSBC

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was upgraded by equities researchers at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $118.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. HSBC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.84% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.68.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $104.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,558,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $85,535,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.