Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Rating Lowered to Hold at Erste Group Bank

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MS. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

MS traded down $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $120.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,989,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,221,598. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $130.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.97. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Remove Ads

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm's revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,845,895,000 after purchasing an additional 696,646 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,240,089,000 after purchasing an additional 604,024 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after purchasing an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.