Morgan Stanley $MS Position Increased by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 967,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,002 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $181,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 7,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.4% during the third quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the third quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the third quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 4,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,298,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: CNBC traders named Morgan Stanley among their “final trades,” citing strong earnings and outlooks. Morgan Stanley, Chubb and CF Industries: CNBC’s ‘Final Trades’
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley has begun using the DTCC’s tokenization service for U.S. equities and Treasuries. The move positions the bank in emerging blockchain market infrastructure, though reports provide no detail on expected revenue or near-term financial impact. What Could Morgan Stanley (MS) Tokenization Mean For Its Role In Markets?
• Negative Sentiment: Recent weakness in Morgan Stanley shares was described as part of a broad market selloff that dragged down major banks, with no company-specific news identified. The bank’s exposure to trading and dealmaking could make it sensitive if market activity cools. Morgan Stanley Sinks 6%, Goldman Down 6%, Citi Down 5% as Market Selloff Drags Wall Street Banks

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered 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 research report on Thursday, October 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $181.65 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 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. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $152.80 and a one year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.51%.

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.

Founded in 1935, Morgan Stanley serves clients in the United States and across international markets, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.