Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $138.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective upped by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $121.00 to $138.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 6.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.67.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $129.99 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $136.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.05. The company has a market capitalization of $209.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the second 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. 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.