Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Nineteen analysts give Morgan Stanley an average rating of "Hold" (11 hold, 8 buy) with a 12‑month average target price of about $189.94.
• Fundamentals & dividend: The firm beat quarterly estimates (EPS $2.68 vs. $2.28; revenue $17.90B vs. $17.69B, +10.3% YoY) and declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend (annualized $4.00, ~2.2% yield).
• Insider activity: Insiders have been net sellers — 129,191 shares sold in the last 90 days (~$23.7M) leaving insider ownership at just 0.17%.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $189.9375.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $171.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,690,826.24. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:MS opened at $183.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.20 and a 200-day moving average of $170.22. The company has a market cap of $289.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.19. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $104.78 and a one year high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: High-profile bullish commentary — Jim Cramer flagged Morgan Stanley as likely to report a strong quarter, which can attract short-term buyer flows ahead of earnings. Jim Cramer on Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Street experts calling for upside — CNBC / market commentators featured Morgan Stanley among names expected to perform, supporting intraday demand. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, CBRE Group and more on CNBC's 'Final Trades'
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s crypto product push (Bitcoin ETF) raises fee and product-growth expectations — the firm’s recent ETF activity is getting press and may boost investor sentiment about new fee streams. Bitcoin News: Morgan Stanley Just Launched the Cheapest Bitcoin ETF
• Neutral Sentiment: Upcoming earnings are the main catalyst — multiple previews and analyst notes (Zacks, Yahoo) highlight Q1 results due tomorrow; expectations and trading/investment-banking strength are why investors are positioning, but outcomes remain binary. Morgan Stanley Q1 Earnings Report Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Market positioning & macro research from MS itself — Morgan Stanley strategists (and others) saying the S&P pullback is largely over can lift broad risk appetite, indirectly helping bank stocks including MS. S&P 500 Correction is ‘Largely Over,’ Says Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical / macro risk could still pressure trading and markets — headlines about Iran/Strait of Hormuz tensions and rising oil pushed futures lower earlier, a reminder that MS’s trading revenues are sensitive to market volatility direction. Stock Futures Down, Oil Rises as US Plans Blockade of Iranian Ports

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.