JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $124.00 to $129.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve 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 company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $125.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $202.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.51. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. 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.