Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Increased by Daymark Wealth Partners LLC

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 113.0% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $165.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.68. The company has a market cap of $263.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $167.13.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

About Morgan Stanley

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.