Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in a report issued on Saturday morning. Credit Suisse Group currently has a $49.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $47.00.
MS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. J P Morgan Chase & Co restated a buy rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, May 29th. Instinet restated a buy rating and set a $50.00 price objective (down from $51.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, June 3rd. Compass Point downgraded Morgan Stanley from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 27th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Rafferty Capital Markets restated a buy rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $47.61.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) opened at 46.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.62. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $27.79 and a 52-week high of $47.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.98. Morgan Stanley also was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 6,765 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 381% compared to the typical volume of 1,407 call options.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.05 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 16.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post $3.49 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 27th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.92%.
In other news, CFO Jonathan Pruzan sold 25,767 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $1,202,803.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 196,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,182,329.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 212,365 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.93, for a total transaction of $9,116,829.45. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,389,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,645,997.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sadoff Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the second quarter. Sadoff Investment Management LLC now owns 725,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,341,000 after buying an additional 6,200 shares during the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 110.0% in the second quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 10,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the second quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 105,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,706,000 after buying an additional 2,158 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.8% in the second quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 5,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.4% in the second quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 7,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. 85.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Morgan Stanley Company Profile
Morgan Stanley is a financial holding company. The Company’s segments include Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management. The Company’s Institutional Securities business segment provides investment banking, sales and trading, and other services to corporations, governments, financial institutions and high-to-ultra high net worth clients.
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