Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,278 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 2,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,895 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 517,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,763,000 after purchasing an additional 9,883 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $129.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $208.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $73.96 and a fifty-two week high of $133.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. UBS Group raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

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.