TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.85% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MS. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.67.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $178.49 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $205.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.47. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The company has a market capitalization of $281.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $8,854,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 201.0% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,890,000 after buying an additional 11,726 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 294,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $61,468,000 after acquiring an additional 28,877 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,452,000 after purchasing an additional 30,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,422,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,635,000 after purchasing an additional 287,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reported third-quarter EPS of $3.03 and revenue of $20.34 billion, exceeding estimates of $2.93 and $19.93 billion. Revenue increased 11.6% year over year, while net income applicable to Morgan Stanley reached $4.9 billion. Morgan Stanley Reports Third-Quarter Revenue and EPS
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth Management delivered record revenue of about $9.1 billion, added $232.4 billion in net new assets and generated $80.5 billion in fee-based flows. Record wealth assets and IPO-related inflows support Morgan Stanley’s longer-term shift toward more stable, recurring fee revenue. Morgan Stanley Q3 Profit and Wealth Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional Securities revenue rose to $10.0 billion, led by a 41% surge in equity-trading revenue. The firm also repurchased $1.54 billion of stock, maintained a 14.9% standardized CET1 ratio and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, payable November 13. Morgan Stanley Reports Third-Quarter Earnings Results
• Negative Sentiment: The market appears concerned that the earnings beat relied heavily on volatile equity trading, while fixed-income trading weakened amid higher Treasury yields and market volatility. Investment-banking revenue was comparatively less impressive, raising doubts about whether the results can be repeated if trading conditions cool. Wall Street Banks Trading Revenue

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.