Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $138.38 and last traded at $136.00, with a volume of 7176875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.30. The stock has a market cap of $219.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.