Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Cut to $144.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target decreased by Bank of America from $150.00 to $144.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MS. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.13.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $119.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $128.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.20. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3,067.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 22,150 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.8% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.1% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.