Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $109.24.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.5% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,656,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $172,630,000 after acquiring an additional 247,171 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 57,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,027,000 after purchasing an additional 2,662 shares in the last quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.0% in the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 77,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,070,000 after purchasing an additional 5,738 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 50,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,238,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 179,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,000 after buying an additional 9,076 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MS opened at $129.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $109.23 and a 200 day moving average of $102.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $73.96 and a 52 week high of $133.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

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.