3,395 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Coastwise Capital Group LLC

Coastwise Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.0% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 233,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,340,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3,067.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 22,150 shares during the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 57,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,958,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $100,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.61 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $78.21 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $119.29 and a 200-day moving average of $106.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.00.

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.