Dupont Capital Management Corp Acquires 10,882 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Dupont Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,882 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.4% of Dupont Capital Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Dupont Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.54.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of MS opened at $161.87 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $166.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.