Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given New $106.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $100.00 to $106.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Cfra boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $97.18.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $90.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,284,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,645 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after purchasing an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,392,000 after purchasing an additional 575,114 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.