Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT Raised to $98.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $94.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a neutral rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. HSBC increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $90.66 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 39.2% in the 1st quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $402,000. FCG Investment Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 48.6% during the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 121,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,418,000 after buying an additional 39,683 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 31,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,000,000 after buying an additional 4,085 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.