Reston Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $133,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after acquiring an additional 119,633 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 96.6% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 16,507 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $87,558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.4 %

MS stock opened at $116.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $188.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $70.27 and a 12 month high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.