Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives $173.38 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $174.7692.

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,893,590,000 after buying an additional 448,960 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,234,883,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,267,847,000 after buying an additional 822,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.0%

MS opened at $174.68 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $181.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $165.89 and its 200 day moving average is $152.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.