Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives $109.24 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.24.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MS opened at $132.31 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $74.55 and a twelve month high of $133.99. The stock has a market cap of $213.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 167,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,415,000 after purchasing an additional 26,043 shares during the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 13,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,453,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 10,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 1,131 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 29,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,035,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 837,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,352,000 after acquiring an additional 13,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.