Morgan Stanley (MS) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is set to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, January 16th. Analysts expect Morgan Stanley to post earnings of $1.54 per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to register for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, analysts expect Morgan Stanley to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $8 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $124.66 on Wednesday. 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 has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $128.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.02. The company has a market capitalization of $200.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

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 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

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.