Morgan Stanley $MS Stock: Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,581,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 408,816 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.5% of Fisher Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 1.69% of Morgan Stanley worth $4,999,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Trust grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the third quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 2,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $135,899,000. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.2% during the third quarter. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators now owns 224,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,254,000 after acquiring an additional 34,637 shares in the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 37.4% during the third quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 2,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 27,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,209,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. 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 report on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $236.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.81.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total value of $454,360.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 64,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MS stock opened at $189.36 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

More Morgan Stanley News

These are some of the MS news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer agent that provides share transfers, shareholder recordkeeping and cap-table services. Bringing these capabilities in-house could deepen the firm’s services to corporate clients and strengthen links to its workplace and wealth-management businesses. Why Is Morgan Stanley Bringing Transfer Agency In House?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing Morgan Stanley’s recent digital initiatives, including transfer agency and tokenization, against whether its returns on capital justify its strong multiyear share-price gains. The coverage raises a valuation question but does not report a new change to earnings or guidance. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After New Digital Moves?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, reducing her stake by 3.72%. The sale is a modest potential sentiment headwind given her substantial remaining holding. Morgan Stanley Director Sells Shares

Morgan Stanley Company 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.