Citigroup Lowers Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $125.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.67% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MS. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.93.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.3 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $4.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $124.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,686,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,204,131. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $130.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.13. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $200.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.