Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $145.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $138.00 to $145.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $137.78 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $138.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $129.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.67. The company has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.