Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $122.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $108.00 to $122.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.40% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $120.32. The stock had a trading volume of 5,017,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,099,345. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.96. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.