Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Cut to Underweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $95.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $99.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.8 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.71. 3,456,927 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,613,309. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.79. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 27,845 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after buying an additional 48,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by 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.