Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Now Covered by BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $180.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.92.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $157.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.63. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $163.98. The firm has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by 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.