Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $173.3846.

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MS stock opened at $179.82 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $181.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market cap of $285.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $163.77 and a 200-day moving average of $150.51.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $343,236,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after buying an additional 1,776,544 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after buying an additional 1,555,015 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.