8,438 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Paladin Wealth LLC

Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $880,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

MS stock opened at $110.90 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $101.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.56. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $111.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market cap of $180.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm 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 for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.