Morgan Stanley’s (MS) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reissued their market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.00.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE MS opened at $109.04 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.49 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $175.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $121.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.