Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Citigroup

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $210.00 to $190.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MS. HSBC upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.86.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $180.73 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $204.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.48. The company has a market cap of $285.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,686,881,000 after buying an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,532,000 after buying an additional 188,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,846,000 after buying an additional 422,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,585,000 after buying an additional 65,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Record wealth-management results, including approximately $9.1 billion in revenue, strong net new assets and $10.5 trillion in wealth assets, reinforced Morgan Stanley’s long-term growth strategy. Morgan Stanley Q3 profit hits $4.9bn on wealth gains and IPO inflows
• Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41% year over year, helping drive the earnings and revenue outperformance. Management also highlighted opportunities from AI financing and disciplined capital allocation. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Wealth and AI Strategy
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a stated yield of about 2.5%, providing ongoing shareholder support.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: JPMorgan raised its target to $198 while maintaining a Neutral rating, but Citigroup, TD Cowen and KBW lowered their targets to $190, $205 and $230, respectively. Morgan Stanley Analysts Cut Their Forecasts After Q3 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that growth was concentrated in equities and trading, while profitability metrics and the business mix were less compelling. The strong beat therefore did not translate into higher valuation expectations. Morgan Stanley Beats on Earnings, But Shares Fall on Trading Mix

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.