Peoples Bank OH Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Peoples Bank OH raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,305,000 after buying an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 16,507 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $119.17 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $121.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.