Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $142.00 to $130.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $129.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.59. The firm has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 135 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.