Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.15 EPS

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15, Zacks reports. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE MS traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $141.13. 1,093,035 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,597,769. The firm has a market cap of $226.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $133.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Morgan Stanley stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.69.

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.