D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 3,311 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $87,558,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $43,850,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $41,208,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,077,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,536,000 after purchasing an additional 343,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.25 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $76.33 and a 52-week high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market cap of $211.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.78.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report 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. 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.63.

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.