Brokerages Set Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target at $101.73

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.73.

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $100.73 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $163.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 328.0% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 11,295 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 57,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,384,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Associated Banc Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $234,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 77,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,204,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during 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.