Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT Raised to $122.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $108.00 to $122.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 0.77% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $121.07 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $121.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $103.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after acquiring an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,969,000 after acquiring an additional 57,104 shares in 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.