In a report released yesterday, Chris Kotowski from Oppenheimer maintained a Buy rating on Morgan Stanley (MS), with a price target of $65. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $48.26.
Kotowski observed:
“Morgan Stanley reported 1Q19 EPS of $1.39 versus our $1.21 forecast and consensus $1.17. While the results contained ~$0.06 of unusual tax benefits and fell from the $1.45 printed last year, it was an excellent performance in the context of what has happened in the markets the past six months. Reported ROTCE was 14.9%, and we would put core ROTCE at 14.2%. That is not bad for a quarter in which the industry’s trading revenues dropped 13.7% and investment banking was down as well. While MS’s comparisons trailed the industry in both these areas this quarter, overall profitability was good as wealth and asset management, which account for 46% of earnings, rose 4% year/year.”
According to TipRanks.com, Kotowski is a top 100 analyst with an average return of 12.9% and a 70.7% success rate. Kotowski covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Apollo Global Management LLC, Fidus Investment Corporation, and BlackRock TCP Capital Corp.
Morgan Stanley has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $56, representing a 16.0% upside. In a report released yesterday, JMP Securities also reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a $55 price target.
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Morgan Stanley’s market cap is currently $82.03B and has a P/E ratio of 10.22. The company has a Price to Book ratio of 1.14.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 43 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock.
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Morgan Stanley provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following business segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.
