Oppenheimer Boosts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $103.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price lifted by Oppenheimer from $98.00 to $103.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. UBS Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a buy rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 19th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $94.71.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8 %

MS opened at $80.28 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $100.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.40.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.07. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $13.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 60.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 135 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50,000.00, for a total value of $6,750,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 90,635,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,740,280,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480,402 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 46,907,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,118,465,000 after purchasing an additional 913,447 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.3% in the second quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 28,073,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,397,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,908,648 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,013,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,371,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.8% in the second quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,463,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,089,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,559 shares in the last quarter. 83.09% of the stock is 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.