Banco Santander S.A. Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,225 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.6% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 5,194 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.6% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 523.2% during the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 5,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $135.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $115.43 and a 200 day moving average of $104.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $135.57. The stock has a market cap of $217.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their target price 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 increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.94.

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.