Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives $101.18 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $101.45.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cfra increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $95.85 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. 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 current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 51.5% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 16,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,598,000 after buying an additional 5,590 shares during the last quarter. Nottingham Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $465,000. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $602,000. FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 157,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,315,000 after buying an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the second quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 25,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,526,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.