Morgan Stanley (MS) Competitors

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, community ranking and valuation.

Which has more risk and volatility, MS or GS?

Morgan Stanley has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, The Goldman Sachs Group has a beta of 1.38, suggesting that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MS or GS?

84.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.2% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Morgan Stanley shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, MS or GS?

Morgan Stanley has higher earnings, but lower revenue than The Goldman Sachs Group. The Goldman Sachs Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Morgan Stanley, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Morgan Stanley	$54.61B	3.72	$9.09B	$6.57	19.17
The Goldman Sachs Group	$108.42B	1.68	$8.52B	$34.08	17.02

Does the media prefer MS or GS?

In the previous week, The Goldman Sachs Group had 23 more articles in the media than Morgan Stanley. MarketBeat recorded 47 mentions for The Goldman Sachs Group and 24 mentions for Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley's average media sentiment score of 0.51 beat The Goldman Sachs Group's score of 0.46 indicating that Morgan Stanley is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Morgan Stanley	4 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
The Goldman Sachs Group	10 Very Positive mention(s)	13 Positive mention(s)	17 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is MS or GS a better dividend stock?

Morgan Stanley pays an annual dividend of $3.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. The Goldman Sachs Group pays an annual dividend of $12.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley pays out 56.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. The Goldman Sachs Group pays out 35.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years and The Goldman Sachs Group has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer MS or GS?

The Goldman Sachs Group received 71 more outperform votes than Morgan Stanley when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 59.90% of users gave Morgan Stanley an outperform vote while only 59.89% of users gave The Goldman Sachs Group an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Morgan Stanley	Outperform Votes 1261 59.90%	Underperform Votes 844 40.10%
The Goldman Sachs Group	Outperform Votes 1332 59.89%	Underperform Votes 892 40.11%

Is MS or GS more profitable?

Morgan Stanley has a net margin of 10.64% compared to The Goldman Sachs Group's net margin of 9.89%. Morgan Stanley's return on equity of 12.58% beat The Goldman Sachs Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Morgan Stanley	10.64%	12.58%	0.95%
The Goldman Sachs Group	9.89%	11.39%	0.72%

Do analysts recommend MS or GS?

Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus price target of $121.80, suggesting a potential downside of 3.29%. The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus price target of $558.38, suggesting a potential downside of 3.75%. Given Morgan Stanley's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Morgan Stanley is more favorable than The Goldman Sachs Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Morgan Stanley	0 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.35
The Goldman Sachs Group	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Summary

Morgan Stanley beats The Goldman Sachs Group on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.