Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.25 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $117.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.78. The stock has a market cap of $211.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,171,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 148.1% in the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.2% in the first quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 6,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $87,558,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 88,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,370,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.