Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lifted by Barclays from $155.00 to $156.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 13.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $2.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $137.97. The company had a trading volume of 5,476,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,533,267. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $137.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market cap of $222.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $128.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.15.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 170,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,520,000 after purchasing an additional 10,082 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 111,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,810,000 after acquiring an additional 6,389 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 17,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,713,000 after acquiring an additional 9,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 14,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,116 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.