Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $130.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $142.00 to $130.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 17.53% from the company’s previous close.

MS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of MS stock traded down $8.66 on Friday, hitting $110.61. The company had a trading volume of 7,442,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,562,373. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $128.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.20. The firm has a market cap of $178.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.