Northwest Bancshares Inc. Has $1.47 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 354.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,995 shares during the period. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.2 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $132.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $135.51. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $113.97 and a 200-day moving average of $104.49.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. 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.