Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by JMP Securities

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by JMP Securities in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Cfra raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $90.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $88.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.92. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $904,714,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632,735 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $477,765,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $512,867,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.