TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price dropped by research analysts at TD Cowen from $210.00 to $205.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.85% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.67.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $178.49 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The company has a market capitalization of $281.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $203.47. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buy back $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $8,854,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 201.0% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 294,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,468,000 after purchasing an additional 28,877 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,452,000 after buying an additional 30,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,422,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,635,000 after buying an additional 287,056 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reported third-quarter EPS of $3.03 and revenue of $20.34 billion, exceeding estimates of $2.93 and $19.93 billion. Revenue increased 11.6% year over year, while net income applicable to Morgan Stanley reached $4.9 billion. Morgan Stanley Reports Third-Quarter Revenue and EPS
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth Management delivered record revenue of about $9.1 billion, added $232.4 billion in net new assets and generated $80.5 billion in fee-based flows. Record wealth assets and IPO-related inflows support Morgan Stanley’s longer-term shift toward more stable, recurring fee revenue. Morgan Stanley Q3 Profit and Wealth Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional Securities revenue rose to $10.0 billion, led by a 41% surge in equity-trading revenue. The firm also repurchased $1.54 billion of stock, maintained a 14.9% standardized CET1 ratio and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, payable November 13. Morgan Stanley Reports Third-Quarter Earnings Results
• Negative Sentiment: The market appears concerned that the earnings beat relied heavily on volatile equity trading, while fixed-income trading weakened amid higher Treasury yields and market volatility. Investment-banking revenue was comparatively less impressive, raising doubts about whether the results can be repeated if trading conditions cool. Wall Street Banks Trading Revenue

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.