Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $179.00 to $187.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley traded as high as $219.95 and last traded at $217.5160, with a volume of 407752 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $214.04.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MS. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick said the firm’s wealth management division alone could grow to a $10 trillion asset base, highlighting a bigger long-term opportunity for fees and recurring revenue. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have been lifting estimates and staying constructive on MS, with recent commentary pointing to better earnings visibility and growth in areas such as AI-enabled equity compensation platforms ahead of earnings. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists said the U.S. stock-market rally could broaden into cyclical sectors, a view that supports a healthier market backdrop for the firm’s capital-markets and trading businesses. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also remained active on the research side, including a new Hold rating on Cognizant and a price-target raise on Jefferies, which reflects ongoing influence in sector calls but is not directly a catalyst for MS shares. Article Title Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: No major company-specific negative development stood out in the last 24–36 hours, but the stock’s advance may be capped by the fact that recent gains have already pushed it close to its 52-week high.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,281,000 after acquiring an additional 8,512 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 103.1% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 52.6% in the third quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,043,000 after purchasing an additional 39,104 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,527,000 after buying an additional 36,963 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 50,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,950,000 after buying an additional 12,804 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $343.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $193.73 and a 200 day moving average of $180.97.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

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.