HSBC Boosts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $102.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price hoisted by HSBC from $100.00 to $102.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. HSBC currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Cfra raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $92.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.10. The firm has a market cap of $149.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $958,105,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $477,765,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $512,867,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. 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.