Jefferies Financial Group Raises Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $109.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $107.00 to $109.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 20.80% from the stock’s previous close.

MS has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.79.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MS opened at $90.23 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.82 and its 200-day moving average is $84.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,155 shares of company stock worth $16,723,094 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th 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 period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 810.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.