Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.80.

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 28.0% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $641,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $730,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.5% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 35,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,680,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $127.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The stock has a market cap of $204.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $126.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.90.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.