Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $153.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $146.00 to $153.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $137.78. 12,389,736 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,932,170. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.05 and a 200-day moving average of $113.58. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $138.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $140,077,000 after acquiring an additional 569,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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.