Morgan Stanley’s (MS) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at The Goldman Sachs Group

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reissued by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $105.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.67% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $1.56 on Tuesday, hitting $96.62. 7,551,989 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,262,398. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.77 and its 200 day moving average is $96.08. The company has a market capitalization of $157.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lazari Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $526,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $14,731,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the second quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 25,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $1,958,000. Finally, Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 33,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.