Claro Advisors LLC Has $833,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2 %

MS opened at $134.06 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $76.33 and a fifty-two week high of $134.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $112.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.93. The company has a market capitalization of $215.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.29.

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.