UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Grows Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $881,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $1,171,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 148.1% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.2% during the first quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 6,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $87,558,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 88,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,370,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.20 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.96. The company has a market capitalization of $211.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.