Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $96.22.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Odeon Capital Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Atlantic Securities raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total value of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 136,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,615,166.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total transaction of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 136,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,615,166.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $11,543,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,136,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,941,460.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 369,100 shares of company stock valued at $34,634,996. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 3,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 15,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the second quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 6,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the second quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 4,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the second quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 83.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $83.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $74.67 and a 12-month high of $100.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.31 and a 200 day moving average of $87.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The business had revenue of $13.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 59.96%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 30th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.