Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 169,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,781 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 113.0% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $164.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $156.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.06. The stock has a market cap of $262.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $167.13.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% 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.