Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MS. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5%

MS stock opened at $202.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $214.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $199.31. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $151.84 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The company has a market cap of $319.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.21.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Technical support and improving estimates: A recent hammer chart pattern suggests buyers may be defending the stock after its pullback, while upward revisions to earnings estimates could support a near-term rebound. Why Morgan Stanley Looks Ripe for Bottom Fishing
• Positive Sentiment: New Canadian advisory mandate: Morgan Stanley and CIBC were selected to advise on the sale of Canadian airport concessions. The transactions are expected to raise tens of billions of dollars, highlighting Morgan Stanley’s ability to win sizable government-related investment-banking assignments. Morgan Stanley and CIBC Win Canadian Airport Concessions Mandate
• Positive Sentiment: Strong deal pipeline and advisory revenue potential: Morgan Stanley is reportedly among the brokerages positioned to earn fees from upcoming high-profile offerings, including a potential Anthropic IPO. The firm and Goldman Sachs reportedly generated about $100 million each in fees from the SpaceX IPO, underscoring the earnings leverage from a robust equity-capital-markets environment. Anthropic IPO and Brokerage Fees
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor focus remains elevated: Morgan Stanley has been a heavily watched stock, with coverage emphasizing its established wealth-management, trading, and investment-banking franchises. This visibility may increase trading interest but does not represent a new fundamental catalyst. Morgan Stanley Is a Trending Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Higher advisor compensation thresholds: Morgan Stanley’s 2027 advisor compensation plan raises certain production thresholds. Although the changes follow common brokerage-industry practices, investors may weigh whether they could increase compensation costs or pressure margins if advisors require greater payouts to retain and grow business. Morgan Stanley Raises the Bar for Financial Advisor Compensation

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. The company serves corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and institutional investors through a range of advisory, capital-raising, trading and investment-related activities.

Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities business offers investment banking services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting and capital markets services.