UBS Group Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $112.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $102.00 to $112.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MS. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $103.06.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.2 %

MS stock opened at $110.46 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $101.02 and a 200-day moving average of $98.47. The company has a market cap of $179.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $111.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

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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.

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