Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) PT Raised to $101.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $97.00 to $101.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.94% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MS. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.79.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $90.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.82 and a 200-day moving average of $84.85. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $146.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,155 shares of company stock valued at $16,723,094 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 810.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.