Barclays Raises Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $121.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $101.18.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $102.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 255,454 shares of company stock worth $26,870,683. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after buying an additional 27,845 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after buying an additional 48,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.