Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $106.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $102.68.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $107.88 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The firm has a market cap of $175.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $87,558,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $85,535,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.