Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $153.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $146.00 to $153.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upped 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MS opened at $137.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $129.05 and its 200-day moving average is $113.67. The firm has a market cap of $221.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 569,789 shares during the last quarter. 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.