Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Cut to $138.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $150.00 to $138.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.96% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $115.04. 1,078,118 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,511,817. The company has a market cap of $185.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.11. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

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

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $324,118,000. 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.