Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Capital Square LLC

Capital Square LLC lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 412 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $43,850,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at $41,208,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,077,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,536,000 after purchasing an additional 343,234 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $134.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,166,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,044,018. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $116.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently 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.