Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $250.00

Key Points

• Bank of America raised Morgan Stanley’s price target from $225 to $250 while keeping a buy rating, implying about 13.5% upside from the previous close.
• Other analysts have also been largely constructive on the stock, though views are mixed overall: the consensus rating remains Hold with an average price target of $215.20.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results recently, with EPS of $3.43 beating estimates and revenue of $20.58 billion topping forecasts, and it also authorized a $20 billion share buyback.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Bank of America from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Bank of America's price objective points to a potential upside of 13.46% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $214.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $215.20.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded down $1.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $220.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 543,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,656,469. The stock has a market cap of $347.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $205.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.72. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $135.26 and a 1 year high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.4% during the third quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 50,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,950,000 after acquiring an additional 12,804 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 679.8% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 42,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,527,000 after acquiring an additional 36,963 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 965,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $171,866,000 after acquiring an additional 67,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,411,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,337,066,000 after purchasing an additional 274,934 shares during the period. 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: Morgan Stanley analyst coverage of SpaceX helped fuel optimism after the firm reportedly initiated coverage with a highly upbeat view, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s role in underwriting and researching major capital markets deals. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts say the blockbuster SpaceX IPO is boosting sales-and-trading revenue at Wall Street banks, which should support second-quarter earnings at firms like Morgan Stanley. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management also announced an investment in the Greenlight Electricity Centre power project, adding another infrastructure-focused growth angle to the Morgan Stanley story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: MS shares have been trending higher recently and are trading near their 52-week high, reflecting strong momentum heading into the next earnings cycle.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several unrelated headlines mention Morgan Stanley as an analyst or portfolio holder in other companies, but they are unlikely to directly move MS stock today.

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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