HSBC Downgrades Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to Hold

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at HSBC from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $131.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $128.00. HSBC’s price objective points to a potential downside of 0.15% from the stock’s previous close.

MS has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $118.10 and a 200 day moving average of $105.96. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.