Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,733,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,062,996 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.54% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,230,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 356.7% during the second quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 16,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,353,000 after acquiring an additional 13,044 shares during the period. Tsfg LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.2% during the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 1,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. EPG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the second quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 32,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,605,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $164.17 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $262.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.51. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $167.13.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.