Concord Asset Management LLC VA Boosts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,028 shares during the quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $134.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $134.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.84. The company has a market capitalization of $215.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (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 net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.