Banco Santander S.A. Purchases 33,507 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Banco Santander S.A. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 395,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,507 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $55,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $163.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $166.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $154.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.33. The company has a market cap of $261.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

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.