Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $138.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $121.00 to $138.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on MS. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.67.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $130.33 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $121.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.21. The company has a market cap of $209.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $79.32 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.7% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 26,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,565,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 131,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,736,000 after purchasing an additional 5,840 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 24,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 8,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.