Aljian Capital Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $134.06 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $215.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.93. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $134.91.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.29.

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.