Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Increased to $98.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $96.13.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $90.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.73 and its 200-day moving average is $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value 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 $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,495,000 after buying an additional 44,725 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.