Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $135.00 at Citigroup

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price lifted by Citigroup from $105.00 to $135.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on MS. Barclays raised their price objective 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $131.20 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $211.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.96.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $579,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.