Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $219.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price increased by HSBC from $215.00 to $219.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $188.81 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $151.84 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $297.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $210.60 and a 200 day moving average of $201.51.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 37.19%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,452,000 after purchasing an additional 30,010 shares during the period. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $242,000. Finally, Talon Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,036,000 after buying an additional 3,228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s shares may be nearing a technical rebound: Zacks notes that the stock is oversold, while analysts have continued raising earnings estimates. The company’s latest reported quarter also showed strong momentum, with earnings and revenue well above consensus and revenue growth of 27% year over year. Morgan Stanley earnings and technical outlook
• Positive Sentiment: The firm launched a Digital Asset Lab to evaluate stablecoins, tokenized deposits, tokenized money-market funds and decentralized-finance tools. No client-facing product or launch timetable has been announced, making this a longer-term strategic opportunity rather than a current earnings catalyst. Morgan Stanley Digital Asset Lab
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports say Morgan Stanley is exploring a potential combination with UBS at the urging of Swiss regulators seeking stronger capital support for UBS. Such a transaction could significantly expand Morgan Stanley’s global investment-banking reach, but the discussions are preliminary and would involve substantial regulatory, capital and integration risks. Morgan Stanley UBS merger talks
• Negative Sentiment: Citi lowered its Morgan Stanley price target to $210, reinforcing near-term valuation concerns after the recent selloff. Citi lowers Morgan Stanley price target
• Negative Sentiment: A newly listed AI company priced its IPO below the marketed range, adding to concerns about technology-market demand and investment-banking activity. The development may be weighing on sentiment toward banks with exposure to capital-markets transactions. Morgan Stanley stocks fall as AI IPO prices below range

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.