Public Sector Pension Investment Board Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 217,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,213 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.20 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $211.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $76.33 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.925 per share. 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 currently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.