Aviva PLC Acquires 51,182 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Aviva PLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 930,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 51,182 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $131,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 68.7% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 25,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 10,214 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 385,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,354,000 after purchasing an additional 57,898 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 49,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,751,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 33.2% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $162.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $158.11 and its 200-day moving average is $142.98. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $167.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business 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%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.