Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with nine holding, five buying, and one assigning a strong buy recommendation.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00 per share, representing a 2.7% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 45.30%.
• Morgan Stanley has authorized a $20 billion stock buyback program, reflecting management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $138.25.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

MS stock opened at $150.50 on Tuesday. 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 has a 12-month low of $94.09 and a 12-month high of $150.75. The stock has a market cap of $240.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.33. The business's 50-day moving average is $143.38 and its 200 day moving average is $129.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after acquiring an additional 749,150 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,234,883,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,610,881,000 after acquiring an additional 403,956 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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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