StoneX Group Inc. Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

StoneX Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,170 shares during the period. StoneX Group Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $672,969,000 after buying an additional 57,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Barclays raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.94.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $134.69. 6,334,100 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,884,451. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $116.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.23. The firm has a market cap of $216.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $135.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

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.