Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 642,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 199,804 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $120,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the second quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 297.4% during the 2nd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $236.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.81.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CNBC traders named Morgan Stanley among their “final trades,” citing strong earnings and outlooks. Morgan Stanley, Chubb and CF Industries: CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley has begun using the DTCC’s tokenization service for U.S. equities and Treasuries. The move positions the bank in emerging blockchain market infrastructure, though reports provide no detail on expected revenue or near-term financial impact. What Could Morgan Stanley (MS) Tokenization Mean For Its Role In Markets?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness in Morgan Stanley shares was described as part of a broad market selloff that dragged down major banks, with no company-specific news identified. The bank’s exposure to trading and dealmaking could make it sensitive if market activity cools. Morgan Stanley Sinks 6%, Goldman Down 6%, Citi Down 5% as Market Selloff Drags Wall Street Banks

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $181.65. 6,016,485 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,380,605. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $152.80 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.31. The firm has a market cap of $286.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals.

Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.

Founded in 1935, Morgan Stanley serves clients in the United States and across international markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.