Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given New $102.00 Price Target at HSBC

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price raised by HSBC from $100.00 to $102.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. HSBC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.09% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.00. The company had a trading volume of 4,345,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,852,514. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.85. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,155 shares of company stock valued at $16,723,094 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,801,000 after acquiring an additional 22,095 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 61.9% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.