Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Stratos Investment Management LLC

Stratos Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $85,535,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 29,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.5% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 8,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $121.07 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $121.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.29. The stock has a market cap of $196.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.