B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 139,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $14,497,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second 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 last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on 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 raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded down $1.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $132.21. The company had a trading volume of 7,244,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,090,834. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $135.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid 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 2.80%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.