Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Keeps “Outperform” Rating at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $230.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $250.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 26.62% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MS. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, October 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $260.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $215.90.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $181.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $205.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.47. The firm has a market cap of $286.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 42.1% during the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 14,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. B.A. Schrock Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $1,874,000. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 5,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reported adjusted earnings of $3.03 per share and revenue of $20.34 billion, exceeding analyst estimates of $2.93 and $19.93 billion, respectively. Revenue increased 11.6% year over year, while net income attributable to the firm rose to approximately $4.9 billion. Morgan Stanley Reports Third-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41%, helping offset weaker fixed-income markets. Wealth Management also delivered record revenue of roughly $9.1 billion, added $232.4 billion in net new assets and reached approximately $10.5 trillion in client assets. IPO-related activity was a major contributor to new asset flows. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: The board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a yield of about 2.5%. Morgan Stanley also repurchased approximately $1.54 billion of common stock, while its standardized CET1 capital ratio stood at 14.9%. Morgan Stanley Declares Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings beat was heavily dependent on equities trading, which may be difficult to repeat. Fixed-income trading revenue declined as Treasury yields rose and bond-market volatility reduced client activity. Wall Street Banks Trading Revenue Report
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that higher compensation costs, increased loan-loss provisions and relatively modest investment-banking growth made the quarter less durable beneath the headline numbers. Broader pressure on bank stocks from hotter inflation data and rising yields added to the caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness has left MS well below its 52-week high and near its 50- and 200-day moving averages, increasing sensitivity to concerns about valuation and the cooling outlook for mergers and IPOs.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.