Keybank National Association OH Trims Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Keybank National Association OH lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,549 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 503,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,699,000 after purchasing an additional 11,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $165.17 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $167.13. The company has a market capitalization of $263.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $156.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $140.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

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.