Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Dbs Bank

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Dbs Bank to a “moderate buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MS stock traded down $1.86 on Wednesday, hitting $163.75. The stock had a trading volume of 6,690,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,328,024. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $159.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.79. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $171.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position 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 worth $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,893,590,000 after purchasing an additional 448,960 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,234,883,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.