Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $114.67 and last traded at $114.67, with a volume of 90198 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $112.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 6.5 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $102.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.96. The firm has a market cap of $194.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. 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 data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings 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 purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $85,535,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after buying an additional 633,319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.