Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $108.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $104.00 to $108.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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 lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $124.03 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $136.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $128.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.83. The company has a market capitalization of $199.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its 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 net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $597,000. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 32,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,075,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 4,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 117.2% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 16,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after buying an additional 9,156 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.