Cfra Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $108.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price boosted by Cfra from $97.00 to $108.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Cfra currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MS. Bank of America raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $90.66 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.92.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other 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.