Haverford Trust Co Acquires 174 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Lansing Street Advisors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Viewpoint Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the second quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $132.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $134.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $110.49 and its 200 day moving average is $103.05. The company has a market cap of $213.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 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 company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 $16,488,718.71. The trade was 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 link. 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.