Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by HSBC

HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $131.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $128.00.

MS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $131.25 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $117.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.78. The firm has a market cap of $211.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after buying an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.