Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Lowered to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Citigroup downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have $100.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MS. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an outperform rating to an underperform rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Cfra reissued a hold rating and set a $95.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, Odeon Capital Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $88.75 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $96.40.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $96.58 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $72.05 and a 12-month high of $109.73. The company has a market cap of $163.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.775 per share. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 44.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 103.2% during the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, My Personal CFO LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 83.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

(Get Rating)

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.