Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $205.95.

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $210.63 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $127.34 and a 1-year high of $217.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were reportedly chosen to lead Anthropic’s IPO, a potentially high-profile assignment that could bring underwriting fees, trading activity, and prestige if the deal moves forward. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: A separate report said Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital led a $33 million growth financing for Subtle Medical, reinforcing the firm’s active role in funding AI-related and healthcare technology opportunities. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital Leads $33 Million Growth Financing For Subtle Medical
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also published macro commentary warning that Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting could jolt foreign-exchange markets, a view that matters more for the broader market backdrop than for MS directly. Warsh’s Fed Debut Is a Key Risk for FX, Morgan Stanley Says

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.