Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target upped by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $104.00 to $108.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 13.36% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $124.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $200.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.74 and its 200 day moving average is $113.02. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $579,000. 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.