Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $203.92 and last traded at $203.61, with a volume of 283691 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $201.03.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and upward earnings revisions are boosting confidence in Morgan Stanley’s valuation. A Look At Morgan Stanley (MS) Valuation As Analyst Upgrades And Earnings Revisions Lift Confidence
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s last reported quarterly results beat expectations, with strong revenue growth and EPS above consensus, reinforcing the upbeat fundamental backdrop.
• Neutral Sentiment: Another article highlighted long-term wealth creation from holding MS over the past decade, which is more of a retrospective performance note than a fresh catalyst. Here’s how much a $1000 investment in Morgan Stanley made 10 years ago would be worth today
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny remains a risk after Senator Elizabeth Warren urged regulators to revoke an exemption tied to Morgan Stanley’s German-unit structure, raising questions about cross-border capital and risk management. Warren Scrutiny Of German Unit Exemption Tests Morgan Stanley Valuation Narrative

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $181.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.88. The company has a market cap of $318.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.