The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $106.00

by · The Markets Daily

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $105.00 to $106.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $102.68.

View Our Latest Analysis on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of MS opened at $107.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.94. The stock has a market cap of $175.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Capital International Ltd. CA increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 50,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 55,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,211,000 after purchasing an additional 5,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,207,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,083,000 after purchasing an additional 32,152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Articles