Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Rating Increased to Buy at HSBC

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was upgraded by research analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $118.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. HSBC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.38% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.68.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $107.88 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.