Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 826.3% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 41,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,365,000 after buying an additional 37,356 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 437,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,557,000 after acquiring an additional 121,788 shares in the last quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 25,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,702,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 32.5% in the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 37,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,903,000 after purchasing an additional 9,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

MS stock opened at $133.21 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.26. The company has a market cap of $214.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $134.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.