Citigroup Cuts Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target to $125.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price target decreased by Citigroup from $135.00 to $125.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.4 %

MS opened at $122.17 on Monday. 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 has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.7% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,235,000 after acquiring an additional 5,155 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $380,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.4% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 7,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 247,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,818,000 after acquiring an additional 43,664 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.