Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $98.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $94.00 to $98.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MS. Cfra raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

MS opened at $90.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.92.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in 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% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,392,000 after acquiring an additional 575,114 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.