Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $98.00

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

MS has been the topic of several other research reports. HSBC raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Cfra raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MS opened at $90.66 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $88.92 and its 200-day moving average is $84.92. 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 $147.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 810.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is 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.