Cfra Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $108.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective increased by Cfra from $97.00 to $108.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $90.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,801,000 after buying an additional 22,095 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 61.9% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 6,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.