Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $136.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) had its price target increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $121.00 to $136.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.23.

View Our Latest Report on MS

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $119.39 and a 200 day moving average of $125.20. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $211.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Hartline Investment Corp increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 67,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,482,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $226,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

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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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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