Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Rating Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

MS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $235.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.85.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $187.94 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $151.84 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $210.05 and its 200-day moving average is $201.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,452,000 after purchasing an additional 30,010 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $242,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Upcoming earnings expectations remain solid. Morgan Stanley is scheduled to report third-quarter results on October 14, with analysts expecting approximately $3.10 in EPS and $20.52 billion in revenue. The estimates provide a potential catalyst if the company benefits from resilient wealth-management activity, trading and investment-banking revenue. Morgan Stanley earnings analyst forecasts
• Positive Sentiment: Digital-asset and event-contract initiatives add strategic upside. Morgan Stanley is reportedly testing blockchain-based products through a Digital Asset Lab, including stablecoins, tokenized deposits and money-market funds. The firm is also exploring an event-contract market, potentially expanding its product offering, though these initiatives are still developmental. Morgan Stanley tests DeFi vaults
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported UBS combination talks create both opportunity and uncertainty. Morgan Stanley is reportedly exploring a potential combination with UBS amid pressure on the Swiss bank to strengthen its capital position. Such a transaction could create significant scale, but the reports are unconfirmed and any deal would face substantial regulatory, capital and execution risks. Morgan Stanley UBS merger talks
• Negative Sentiment: Investment-banking sentiment may be weighing on the stock. Morgan Stanley-related coverage cited an AI IPO pricing below its expected range, which may reinforce concerns about IPO and deal-market conditions. Separately, commentary suggested the stock may already reflect the benefits of its Dallas hub investment, limiting the impact of that expansion as a fresh catalyst. 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.