Morgan Stanley Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:MS)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 94,836 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 222% compared to the typical volume of 29,408 call options.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was 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 at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $116.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.97. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $70.27 and a fifty-two week high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.