JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $129.00 to $125.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 9.7 %

MS opened at $107.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $127.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.