Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Boosted by Asset Dedication LLC

Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 16,507 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $87,558,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 6.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $119.52 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $121.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $102.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.96.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% 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.