Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Dbs Bank upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. HSBC raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MS traded down $1.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $220.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 543,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,656,469. The company has a 50 day moving average of $205.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $347.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $135.26 and a 1-year high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley analyst coverage of SpaceX helped fuel optimism after the firm reportedly initiated coverage with a highly upbeat view, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s role in underwriting and researching major capital markets deals. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say the blockbuster SpaceX IPO is boosting sales-and-trading revenue at Wall Street banks, which should support second-quarter earnings at firms like Morgan Stanley. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management also announced an investment in the Greenlight Electricity Centre power project, adding another infrastructure-focused growth angle to the Morgan Stanley story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: MS shares have been trending higher recently and are trading near their 52-week high, reflecting strong momentum heading into the next earnings cycle.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated headlines mention Morgan Stanley as an analyst or portfolio holder in other companies, but they are unlikely to directly move MS stock today.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.