Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives $121.80 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $121.80.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $126.76 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.46. 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 twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 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 issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after buying an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.