Bank of America Increases Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $106.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Bank of America from $100.00 to $106.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.67% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Cfra boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.18.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MS opened at $90.08 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.81. The stock has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.4% in the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 44,725 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Morgan Stanley

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.