Evercore ISI Has Lowered Expectations for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) had its target price cut by Evercore ISI from $150.00 to $138.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MS. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve investment 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $129.87.

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Morgan Stanley Trading Down 9.7 %

Shares of MS traded down $11.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $107.70. The company had a trading volume of 15,179,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,599,116. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.20. The stock has a market cap of $173.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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.