Brokerages Set Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target at $205.95

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $205.95.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Dbs Bank raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s top market strategist said the recent tech selloff looks like a healthy reset, with improving earnings and the economic backdrop still supportive for stocks. Why tech’s record pullback is just a ‘healthy reset’ for the bull market, according to Morgan Stanley’s top stock-market strategist
• Positive Sentiment: Related market coverage suggests investors are rotating back into stocks after the prior tech-led pullback, which can support large diversified financials like MS.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several news items mention Morgan Stanley conference activity and analyst work, but they appear to be industry-context items rather than direct catalysts for Morgan Stanley’s own fundamentals.
• Neutral Sentiment: No major Morgan Stanley earnings, guidance, or capital-return announcement was included in the latest batch of articles.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MS stock opened at $212.11 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $189.79 and a 200-day moving average of $179.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $128.81 and a 12-month high of $219.16. The company has a market capitalization of $334.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,786,350,000 after buying an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,441,505,000 after buying an additional 524,189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.