Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Upgraded to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $142.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.22% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $132.44 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $134.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $111.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Coastwise Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.0% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 233,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,340,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3,067.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 22,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 57,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,958,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.