Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average twelve-month target price of $168.23.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.80 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations of $2.07, alongside an 18.5% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Morgan Stanley has launched a $20 billion share repurchase program, indicating that its leadership believes the stock is undervalued, along with declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share.

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $168.2308.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $159.25 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $166.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business's 50-day moving average is $153.89 and its 200-day moving average is $137.89. The company has a market capitalization of $254.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $2,234,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $343,236,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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.

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