Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $216.93 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $145.65 and a 1 year high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $217.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.67. The company has a market cap of $342.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crown Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the second quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Zacks upgraded Morgan Stanley to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. The call reinforces the bullish view following the company’s latest quarterly earnings beat, when revenue and EPS exceeded consensus estimates. Morgan Stanley Upgraded to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth-management expansion: Morgan Stanley is exploring a broader international wealth-management push, potentially expanding its addressable client base and generating longer-term fee-based revenue growth. Morgan Stanley’s Bobby Singh: Why We Are Exploring an International Wealth Push
• Positive Sentiment: Capital-markets backdrop: Morgan Stanley expects tighter oil markets and potentially higher gold prices, conditions that could increase trading, commodities and advisory activity. The benefit is indirect and depends on market volatility and client activity. Oil tightens as Morgan Stanley sees Brent hitting $100
• Neutral Sentiment: Preferred dividends declared: Regular dividends on Morgan Stanley’s preferred-stock series highlight continued distributions to income investors, but they do not directly increase common-stock earnings or dividends. Morgan Stanley Declares Preferred Dividends
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and legal risks: Morgan Stanley’s roughly 45% one-year gain has left investors questioning whether the shares are fully valued. Rising expenses and cyclical trading revenue could constrain additional gains, while lawsuits concerning banks’ roles in leveraged buyouts create a potential liability overhang. Morgan Stanley Gains 45.1% in a Year
• Negative Sentiment: Higher-yield environment: Morgan Stanley warns that bond yields could become higher and more volatile in a postwar-style economic regime. Although volatility can aid trading, persistently high yields may pressure valuations, deal activity and wealth-management asset flows. Morgan Stanley warns bond yields could rise

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.