Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given New $150.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.19% from the company’s current price.

MS has been the subject of several other research reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $136.12. 2,163,759 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,081,541. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $128.74 and a 200-day moving average of $113.15. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.