Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $105.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $102.00 to $105.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.46% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on MS. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.48.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, hitting $99.56. 389,945 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,567,233. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.75 and a 200-day moving average of $91.86. The stock has a market cap of $161.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.9% in the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.