Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Increased to $100.00 by Analysts at HSBC

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at HSBC from $96.00 to $100.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. HSBC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.95% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.4 %

NYSE:MS opened at $93.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $152.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.09.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at $8,158,297.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $28,000. 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.