Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $142.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $107.00.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $1.63 on Friday, hitting $134.06. The company had a trading volume of 7,281,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,093,088. The company has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.55 and a 200 day moving average of $103.75. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $76.33 and a 52-week high of $134.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during 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.