Net Worth Advisory Group Invests $848,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $848,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $798,000 after buying an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $85,535,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 29,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,773,000 after acquiring an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 8,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Finally, Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 11,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $121.07 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $121.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $103.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.29.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 67.40%.

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.

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