Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $86.99, but opened at $90.71. Morgan Stanley shares last traded at $89.85, with a volume of 5,304,411 shares.

The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.66.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $904,714,000 after purchasing an additional 10,632,735 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $477,765,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $512,867,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $88.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.78. The firm has a market cap of $144.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.43.

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.