Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $140.00 to $150.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.19% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $136.12. The company had a trading volume of 2,163,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,081,541. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.15. The firm has a market cap of $219.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $136.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 170,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,520,000 after acquiring an additional 10,082 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 111,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,810,000 after acquiring an additional 6,389 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.8% during the second quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 17,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 9,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 14,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,116 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.