Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by S&CO Inc.

S&CO Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,709 shares during the quarter. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 30.7% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 110.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.4% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.5% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 49,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,672,000 after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $134.06 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.55 and its 200 day moving average is $103.84. The stock has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $134.91. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.