Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.48.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. HSBC raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Cfra raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after purchasing an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,392,000 after buying an additional 575,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $958,105,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $100.12 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $103.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $96.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.92. The company has a market capitalization of $162.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.