Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by HSBC

HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $131.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $128.00.

MS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $131.25 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.78.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $87,558,000. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth about $579,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.