Northwest Bancshares Inc. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 354.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,995 shares during the period. Northwest Bancshares Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth approximately $452,000. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.4% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 3,017 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,497,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 74,309 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,745,000 after buying an additional 10,403 shares during the period. Finally, SouthState Corp lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.8% in the third quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 18,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,882,000 after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MS traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $131.32. 1,912,574 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,067,823. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $135.51. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $113.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.49. The company has a market cap of $211.56 billion, a PE 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.27 billion. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.