GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Acquires 29,783 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 77.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,783 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price target 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. 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 report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.29.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $134.06 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.93. The company has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. 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 has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $134.91.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.