Bank of America Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $106.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Bank of America from $100.00 to $106.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 17.67% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cfra raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.18.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $90.08 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $88.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.81. The firm has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its holdings 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 810.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.