PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Purchases 34,637 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,637 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.0% of PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $42,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partners Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Partners Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 3,253 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,854,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,452,000 after buying an additional 30,010 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 294,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $61,468,000 after acquiring an additional 28,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.4% during the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,422,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,635,000 after acquiring an additional 287,056 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total transaction of $454,360.80. Following the sale, the director owned 64,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MS shares. HSBC raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.81.

Top Morgan Stanley Stories

Investors following MS have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer agent that provides share transfers, shareholder recordkeeping and cap-table services. Bringing these capabilities in-house could deepen the firm’s services to corporate clients and strengthen links to its workplace and wealth-management businesses. Why Is Morgan Stanley Bringing Transfer Agency In House?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing Morgan Stanley’s recent digital initiatives, including transfer agency and tokenization, against whether its returns on capital justify its strong multiyear share-price gains. The coverage raises a valuation question but does not report a new change to earnings or guidance. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After New Digital Moves?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, reducing her stake by 3.72%. The sale is a modest potential sentiment headwind given her substantial remaining holding. Morgan Stanley Director Sells Shares

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $189.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $193.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.44. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

About Morgan Stanley

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.