Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $118.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price lifted by BMO Capital Markets from $115.00 to $118.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a neutral rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $97.79.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $90.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $146.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,155 shares of company stock worth $16,723,094. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 810.8% during the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.