Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Lifted by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $133.78 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $135.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.