Jefferies Financial Group Boosts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $109.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $107.00 to $109.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MS. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Cfra increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $90.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in 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 period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.