Erste Group Bank Downgrades Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to Hold

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Erste Group Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $118.08 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.73. The stock has a market cap of $190.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. 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 (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $129,341,000. Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Finally, Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.