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

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 15 research firms, with an average target price of $138.25.
• Insider transactions revealed significant sales, with insiders selling a total of 148,149 shares valued at approximately $20.84 million over the last quarter.
• The company's board authorized a $20 billion share repurchase plan, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation, alongside a planned dividend increase to $1.00 per share.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $138.25.

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

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

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $140.98 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $137.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.48. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $92.78 and a 12 month high of $145.48. The company has a market cap of $225.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 1.77 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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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