Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 164,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,146 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Aviva PLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.8% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 930,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,081,000 after acquiring an additional 51,182 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 68.7% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 25,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 10,214 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 42.4% in the second quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 385,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,354,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 49,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,751,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $162.31 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.98. The firm has a market cap of $257.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $167.13.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

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.