Morgan Stanley‘s rating was cut at RBC Capital Markets with analysts saying that the current valuation of the stock discounts the investment bank’s outlook.
Morgan Stanley (ticker: MS) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform with the price target maintained at $97. Analysts surveyed by FactSet have an average target price on the stock of $100.47.
RBC Capital analysts, led by Gerard Cassidy, continue to see a healthy outlook for Morgan Stanley but said they foresee traditional commercial banks outperforming investment banks due to the likelihood of higher interest rates in the next 12 to 18 months. Morgan Stanley on Thursday posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings driven by significant revenue jumps in its advisory and wealth management business. It reported earnings of $1.98 a share, roughly 30 cents higher than analysts’ estimates, on revenue of $14.8 billion.
“Its performance over the last 18 months has been very strong due to better than expected core results ,” said Cassidy, attributing the stock’s gains to the current bull market and successful acquisitions of E*Trade and Eaton Vance.
The stock was up roughly 0.5% in premarket trading on Friday to $101.40. The stock closed Thursday at $101.01, up 2.48%.
Shares have gained more than 47.4% this year, while the S&P 500 has advanced 18.16% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed slightly more than 14%.
精彩评论