Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Raised to Buy at HSBC

by · The Cerbat Gem

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $118.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. HSBC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $102.68.

View Our Latest Research Report on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $107.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

(Get Free Report)

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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