Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $140.80 and last traded at $140.19, with a volume of 721550 shares. The stock had previously closed at $138.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.51. The company has a market capitalization of $223.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.