Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $146.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price increased by Bank of America from $140.00 to $146.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $127.83 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.24. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The stock has a market cap of $205.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.