Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT Raised to $105.00 at Citigroup

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $98.00 to $105.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $101.18.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $102.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $165.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.88. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.99 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.