Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $91.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and set a $91.00 price target (down previously from $102.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7 %

MS stock opened at $94.16 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The firm has a market cap of $153.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.76%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $251,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $3,353,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 33,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 4,564 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is 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.