Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $15.67 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 150,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,371 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $15,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after buying an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,969,000 after acquiring an additional 57,104 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MS traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $132.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,217,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,073,850. The company has a market capitalization of $213.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $74.55 and a 52 week high of $133.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

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.