Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $109.68 and traded as high as $127.22. Morgan Stanley shares last traded at $127.06, with a volume of 2,902,782 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.02. The stock has a market cap of $204.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $641,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $730,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 35,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,680,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 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.