Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT Raised to $105.00 at UBS Group

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $99.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $104.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $169.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $105.82.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Planning lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 170,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,885,000 after acquiring an additional 11,913 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 14,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 5,825 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 85.2% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 335,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,407,000 after acquiring an additional 154,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.