Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC

Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,009 shares during the quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $128.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $81.96 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $122.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating 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. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is 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.