Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT Raised to $98.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target upped by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $94.00 to $98.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.99% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.13.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9 %

MS traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $89.92. 6,897,716 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,901,383. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Opinicus Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.8% during the first quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 3,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 53,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.0% in the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 7,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,599,000. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 35,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after buying an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.