Claro Advisors LLC Purchases 8,097 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,097 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $87,558,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $85,535,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,392,000 after buying an additional 633,319 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $121.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.