Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires 13,838 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 210.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 20,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,838 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Bank OZK increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank OZK now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total value of $454,360.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 64,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $190.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.41. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $152.80 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The company has a market cap of $297.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.26%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.51%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

Investors following MS have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer-agent platform. The deal would add share-transfer and shareholder-recordkeeping services to Morgan Stanley at Work, potentially strengthening workplace and wealth-management relationships and helping the firm retain clients as private companies go public. Sidley Represents Morgan Stanley in Its Acquisition of Vinyl Equity
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson said the market correction may be nearing its end but urged selectivity. A recovery could benefit trading and investment-banking activity, although this is a broad market view rather than a specific forecast for MS. Morgan Stanley strategist on the market correction
• Negative Sentiment: Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, trimming her stake by 3.72%. The sale may weigh slightly on sentiment, but she retained more than 64,000 shares, limiting its significance. Morgan Stanley director share sale

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. HSBC boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.