Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on MS. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $187.94 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $151.84 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $210.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $201.75. The company has a market cap of $296.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the second quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank OZK lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank OZK now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming earnings expectations remain solid. Morgan Stanley is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 14, with analysts expecting approximately $3.10 in EPS and $20.52 billion in revenue. The estimates provide a potential catalyst if the company benefits from resilient wealth-management activity, trading and investment-banking revenue. Morgan Stanley earnings analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Digital-asset and event-contract initiatives add strategic upside. Morgan Stanley is reportedly testing blockchain-based products through a Digital Asset Lab, including stablecoins, tokenized deposits and money-market funds. The firm is also exploring an event-contract market, potentially expanding its product offering, though these initiatives are still developmental. Morgan Stanley tests DeFi vaults
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported UBS combination talks create both opportunity and uncertainty. Morgan Stanley is reportedly exploring a potential combination with UBS amid pressure on the Swiss bank to strengthen its capital position. Such a transaction could create significant scale, but the reports are unconfirmed and any deal would face substantial regulatory, capital and execution risks. Morgan Stanley UBS merger talks
• Negative Sentiment: Investment-banking sentiment may be weighing on the stock. Morgan Stanley-related coverage cited an AI IPO pricing below its expected range, which may reinforce concerns about IPO and deal-market conditions. Separately, commentary suggested the stock may already reflect the benefits of its Dallas hub investment, limiting the impact of that expansion as a fresh catalyst. Morgan Stanley stocks fall as AI IPO prices below range

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.