6,209 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by OceanIQ Capital LLC

OceanIQ Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,159,000. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 0.6% of OceanIQ Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,686,881,000 after buying an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,532,000 after buying an additional 188,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,040,227,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,585,000 after buying an additional 65,739 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $250.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.86.

Key Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategist Michael Wilson said investors should prepare to add risk as a months-long equity-market pullback may be nearing an end. A broader market rebound could benefit Morgan Stanley’s investment-banking, trading and asset-management businesses. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Says Get Ready to Buy as Stock Drop Ends
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s strong quarterly performance, including earnings of $3.03 per share versus a $2.93 consensus estimate, 11.6% year-over-year revenue growth and a 19.4% return on equity. The company has also raised its dividend and repurchased shares, supporting shareholder returns. Morgan Stanley Earnings and Dividends
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reportedly increased its price target for MS, adding to evidence that some analysts see upside after the recent retreat. Morgan Stanley Stock Gets Price Target Increase from JPMorgan
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is receiving elevated investor attention, but the latest Zacks article does not identify a new company-specific catalyst. The stock’s valuation, earnings outlook and exposure to market activity remain the key issues for investors. Is Morgan Stanley Worth Betting on Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst opinion remains mixed, and the stock’s position below its longer-term moving averages indicates that technical momentum is still weak. Continued market volatility or a delay in investment-banking activity could limit near-term upside. Analysts Conflicted on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE MS traded down $0.81 during trading on Monday, hitting $179.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,611,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,168,381. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $152.80 and a one year high of $232.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $204.40 and its 200-day moving average is $203.80. The company has a market cap of $283.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.