Summit Global Investments Acquires 8,637 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Summit Global Investments lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 193.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,637 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viewpoint Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $129.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $210.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $73.96 and a fifty-two week high of $133.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $109.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $102.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related 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 value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by 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.