Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $112.22, but opened at $116.88. Morgan Stanley shares last traded at $121.14, with a volume of 6,461,296 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $194.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $101.81 and a 200 day moving average of $98.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 255.5% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 7,797 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 33,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the first quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 4,062 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.6% during the first quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 462 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.