Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 273.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,799,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,317,905 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.7% of KBC Group NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. KBC Group NV owned about 0.11% of Morgan Stanley worth $253,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $166.41 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $167.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.