Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by SCS Capital Management LLC

SCS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 289.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 123,655 shares during the period. SCS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,234,883,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $767,506,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $343,236,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after buying an additional 1,776,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $174.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $162.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $176.00. The firm has a market cap of $277.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.38.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.