Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)’s stock price has gone decline by -0.75 in comparison to its previous close of 86.84, however, the company has experienced a -6.79% decrease in its stock price over the last five trading days. Proactive Investors reported 2024-04-12 that Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is expected to post a year-on-year drop in both profit and revenue for the first quarter when it reports on its last quarter’s financial performance on Tuesday, April 16. The financial services firm is going into its earnings amid reports its client vetting practices are being probed by federal regulators, which saw the stock drop dramatically this week.
Is It Worth Investing in Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Right Now?
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66x compared to its average ratio. MS has 36-month beta value of 1.41. Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with 14 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 3 as “overweight,” 9 as “hold,” and 0 as “sell.”
The public float for MS is 1.25B, and currently, short sellers hold a 1.21% ratio of that float. The average trading volume of MS on April 15, 2024 was 8.91M shares.
MS’s Market Performance
The stock of Morgan Stanley (MS) has seen a -6.79% decrease in the past week, with a -3.54% drop in the past month, and a -4.77% fall in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 2.91%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 2.09% for MS.. The simple moving average for the past 20 days is -5.82% for MS’s stock, with a 1.10% simple moving average for the past 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of MS
Many brokerage firms have already submitted their reports for MS stocks, with Keefe Bruyette repeating the rating for MS by listing it as a “Mkt Perform.” The predicted price for MS in the upcoming period, according to Keefe Bruyette is $91 based on the research report published on January 17, 2024 of the current year 2024.
JP Morgan, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see MS reach a price target of $87, previously predicting the price at $94. The rating they have provided for MS stocks is “Neutral” according to the report published on January 17th, 2024.
HSBC Securities gave a rating of “Hold” to MS, setting the target price at $96 in the report published on January 09th of the current year.
MS Trading at -2.56% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought MS to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -9.81% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 2.09%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 2.91%, as shares sank -3.27% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading -1.20% lower at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, MS fell by -6.79%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +2.08% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $91.38. In addition, Morgan Stanley saw -7.57% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at MS starting from GORMAN JAMES P, who sale 100,000 shares at the price of $87.30 back on Feb 12 ’24. After this action, GORMAN JAMES P now owns 350,000 shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at $8,730,220 using the latest closing price.
SAPERSTEIN ANDREW M, the Co-President of Morgan Stanley, sale 26,655 shares at $87.19 during a trade that took place back on Feb 12 ’24, which means that SAPERSTEIN ANDREW M is holding 286,835 shares at $2,324,092 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for MS
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.21 for the present operating margin
- 0.56 for the gross margin
The net margin for Morgan Stanley stands at 0.18. The total capital return value is set at 0.01. Equity return is now at value 9.12, with 0.76 for asset returns.
Based on Morgan Stanley (MS), the company’s capital structure generated 0.74 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at -0.12. The debt to equity ratio resting at 2.79. The interest coverage ratio of the stock is 0.25.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 15.93 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 17.01. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 7.08. The receivables turnover for the company is 0.63for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.04. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.37.
Conclusion
To put it simply, Morgan Stanley (MS) has had a bad performance in recent times. Analysts have a mixed opinion on the stock, with some rating it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It’s important to note that the stock is currently trading at a significant distance from its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
