Cfra Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $108.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Cfra from $97.00 to $108.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Cfra’s price target points to a potential upside of 19.89% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock 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, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.13.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

MS opened at $90.08 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 10,632,735 shares during the period. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $477,765,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $512,867,000. 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.