Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Increased to $106.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $105.00 to $106.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and lowered their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $101.79.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $104.51 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market cap of $169.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company 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 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 15,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.