Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Boosted by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $120,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Capital International Investors grew its stake 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 worth $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $43,850,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $134.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $215.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $134.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MS. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.29.

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.