BMO Capital Markets Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $118.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from $115.00 to $118.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price points to a potential upside of 30.16% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $90.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.92.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 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.