Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Icon Wealth Advisors LLC

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2,660.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 148,469 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.6% of Icon Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,305,000 after buying an additional 119,633 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $87,558,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Ten research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.94.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $134.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,331,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,072,036. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $216.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $115.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $76.33 and a 52-week high of $135.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Morgan Stanley 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.