Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Underweight”

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $95.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $99.00.

MS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded down $5.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.85. 11,120,672 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,699,997. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $99.71 and a 200-day moving average of $93.61. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The stock has a market cap of $155.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the second quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.