Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.48.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MS. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.9% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $100.12 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.92. 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 has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $103.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.