Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Rating Increased to Equal Weight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $142.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $107.00.

MS has been the topic of several other research reports. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MS traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.06. The stock had a trading volume of 7,281,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,093,088. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $134.91. The company has a market capitalization of $215.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 24,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.