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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $122.00 to $157.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $159.25 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $166.77. The stock has a market cap of $254.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $2,234,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $343,236,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.