Rothschild & Co Redburn Cuts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $171.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price dropped by analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from $175.00 to $171.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn’s target price indicates a potential upside of 2.77% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.13.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $1.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $166.39. 4,172,833 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,523,629. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market cap of $264.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $170.12 and its 200-day moving average is $169.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 19.6% in the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 13.4% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 34,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,881,000 after purchasing an additional 4,097 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.3% during the second quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 25,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.3% during the second quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade is in talks to lead SpaceX’s retail IPO allocation, which would give MS first crack at a large retail tranche (reports say SpaceX may reserve up to 30% for retail). That could boost trading fees, retail customer flows and E*Trade’s strategic position versus rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: High?profile investor support: reports that billionaire Paul Tudor Jones is bullish on Morgan Stanley have likely helped sentiment, reinforcing confidence in MS as a bank/wealth manager play. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product pipeline upside: coverage referenced Morgan Stanley’s upcoming spot Bitcoin ETF and related digital-asset activity — a new ETF product and related trading/asset-gathering could create recurring fee revenue and trading commissions. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Solid fundamentals (recent quarter): Morgan Stanley’s last reported quarter beat EPS and revenue expectations, supporting the valuation and reinforcing investor confidence in recurring investment?banking and wealth?management profitability. (Company results: Jan 15 release)
• Neutral Sentiment: Research flow and analyst notes: MS research has been active — trimming price targets on some large tech names (e.g., Meta to $775 while keeping Overweight) and adjusting targets on other coverage names (FUTU, Unity, etc.). That research can move sector sentiment but is mixed for MS’s stock directly. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic positioning: analysts and coverage note MS is pushing into alternatives and private-credit (EquityZen deal, private credit ramp) — a longer?term AUM growth driver but execution and margin timing make near?term impact mixed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk item: the Financial Times reported a Morgan Stanley wealth manager engaged with a high?profile client’s broker activity before a geopolitical event — such media scrutiny can be a short?term reputational/headline risk for the wealth business. Read More.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.