Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives $224.75 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $224.75.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. HSBC boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, CICC Research raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is expanding its international wealth-management strategy, aiming to serve offshore clients in their home markets. The initiative could broaden the firm’s addressable client base and support recurring fee revenue. Morgan Stanley’s Bobby Singh: Why We Are Exploring an International Wealth Push
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to participate in investment-banking activity, including as a dealer manager for Tyson Foods’ $1.2 billion debt tender offer and as an adviser or buyer in recent equity transactions. These activities may generate fees, although no material financial impact was disclosed. Tyson Foods Announces Pricing Terms and Early Settlement of Debt Tender Offers
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s shares have gained 45.1% over the past year and outperformed peers, highlighting strong momentum but also raising the bar for additional gains. Morgan Stanley Gains 45.1% in a Year: Should You Buy MS Stock Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The firm’s research team expects bond yields could rise in a postwar-style economic regime and recommends large-cap, high-quality companies and artificial-intelligence adopters. Higher yields can benefit some interest-related businesses but may pressure valuations and slow deal activity. The post-World War II market shift is here
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholders are suing JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley over their roles as advisers on multibillion-dollar buyouts. The litigation creates potential legal costs, liability and reputational risk, although the financial exposure remains unclear. JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley defend against suits over roles in buyouts
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary cautions that trading revenue is cyclical, expenses are rising and Morgan Stanley’s premium valuation may limit near-term upside. These concerns likely contribute to subdued trading despite the firm’s strong annual gain. Morgan Stanley Gains 45.1% in a Year

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $78,825,883,310,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20,805.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 374,314,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,246,626,000 after purchasing an additional 372,523,624 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,040,227,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $214.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $217.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.41. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $145.65 and a one year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $1.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.