De Lisle Partners LLP Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

De Lisle Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $43,850,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 19.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,077,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,536,000 after buying an additional 343,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16,858.9% in the 2nd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 339,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,773,000 after purchasing an additional 337,347 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $131.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $211.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $136.24. 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 price of $118.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. UBS Group increased 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $118.00.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.