Allen Capital Group LLC Purchases 886 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 37,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,858,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. First County Bank CT grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 4,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. 49 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 5,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.94.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $134.69 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $116.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.17. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $135.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market cap of $216.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its 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, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.