Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $142.00 price target on the financial services provider's stock, up from their prior price target of $107.00.
A number of other research firms also recently commented on MS. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $111.29.
View Our Latest Research Report on MS
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
MS stock traded up $1.63 on Friday, hitting $134.06. The company had a trading volume of 7,176,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,093,088. 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 has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $134.91. The stock has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $111.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.46.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.
Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley
In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Morgan Stanley
(
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.
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