Commerce Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,128,893 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,043 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $117,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7 %

MS stock traded down $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $131.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,068,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,068,515. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $76.33 and a 52-week high of $135.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.49.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Eleven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.