Carmel Capital Partners LLC Buys 275 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $964,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $129.53 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $73.96 and a 52 week high of $133.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $210.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.69%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.