Brokerages Set Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT at $131.27

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $131.27.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $134.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.50. The firm has a market cap of $216.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.43 and a 1 year high of $142.03. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by 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.