Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.45.

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 5.8 %

MS stock opened at $95.85 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $99.71 and a 200 day moving average of $93.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 67.40%.

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.