Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 356,654 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 14,155 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $37,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $672,969,000 after purchasing an additional 57,104 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $119.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,355,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,120,930. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $121.45. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $102.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.56.

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.