HSBC Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $102.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at HSBC from $100.00 to $102.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "hold" rating on the financial services provider's stock. HSBC's target price indicates a potential upside of 12.51% from the stock's current price.

MS has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Cfra increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.66. The stock had a trading volume of 8,134,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,904,789. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $88.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.85. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.