Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) in a research report issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, January 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded down $2.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $84.18. 19,935,825 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,134,612. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.84. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $72.05 and a one year high of $100.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The firm has a market cap of $141.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. The company had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.16 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total transaction of $2,412,135.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 190,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,706,921.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 348,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,824,933.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total transaction of $2,412,135.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at $18,706,921.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 341,699 shares of company stock valued at $33,143,046 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,258,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,973,640,000 after buying an additional 97,672 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,455,083,000 after buying an additional 7,514,505 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $956,566,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,737,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,886,000 after buying an additional 379,286 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $904,714,000 after buying an additional 10,632,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.48% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.