Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:MS opened at $162.31 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $257.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $167.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 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 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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.