Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley to “Strong Buy” from “Hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $224.75 price target.
• Morgan Stanley recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.46 in EPS and $21.35 billion in revenue, with revenue up 27.1% year over year.
• The board authorized a $20 billion share-buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 5.6% of outstanding shares; the stock opened at $216.93, near its 52-week high.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Dbs Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3%

MS stock opened at $216.93 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $145.65 and a one year high of $232.25. The firm has a market cap of $342.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $217.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $8,854,000. Arsenal Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $814,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 201.0% in the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 11,726 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 71,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,724,000 after purchasing an additional 11,588 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 9,171,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,628,244,000 after purchasing an additional 83,472 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Zacks upgraded Morgan Stanley to Rank #1, or “Strong Buy,” citing improving earnings prospects. The call reinforces the bullish view following the company’s latest quarterly earnings beat, when revenue and EPS exceeded consensus estimates. Morgan Stanley Upgraded to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Wealth-management expansion: Morgan Stanley is exploring a broader international wealth-management push, potentially expanding its addressable client base and generating longer-term fee-based revenue growth. Morgan Stanley’s Bobby Singh: Why We Are Exploring an International Wealth Push
• Positive Sentiment: Capital-markets backdrop: Morgan Stanley expects tighter oil markets and potentially higher gold prices, conditions that could increase trading, commodities and advisory activity. The benefit is indirect and depends on market volatility and client activity. Oil tightens as Morgan Stanley sees Brent hitting $100
• Neutral Sentiment: Preferred dividends declared: Regular dividends on Morgan Stanley’s preferred-stock series highlight continued distributions to income investors, but they do not directly increase common-stock earnings or dividends. Morgan Stanley Declares Preferred Dividends
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and legal risks: Morgan Stanley’s roughly 45% one-year gain has left investors questioning whether the shares are fully valued. Rising expenses and cyclical trading revenue could constrain additional gains, while lawsuits concerning banks’ roles in leveraged buyouts create a potential liability overhang. Morgan Stanley Gains 45.1% in a Year
• Negative Sentiment: Higher-yield environment: Morgan Stanley warns that bond yields could become higher and more volatile in a postwar-style economic regime. Although volatility can aid trading, persistently high yields may pressure valuations, deal activity and wealth-management asset flows. Morgan Stanley warns bond yields could rise

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company's chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm's primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.

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