Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,303 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Cadence Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 28,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,994,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 82,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,579,000 after purchasing an additional 3,311 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $131.20 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The company has a market capitalization of $211.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.