Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Raised by LS Investment Advisors LLC

LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 139.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,875 shares during the quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,850,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $128.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $73.96 and a 1-year high of $133.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $108.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.92.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.