2,066 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 27,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 78,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,174,000 after acquiring an additional 5,193 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 317,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,069,000 after acquiring an additional 17,036 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. now owns 3,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 5,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $132.75 on Thursday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $110.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.05. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $134.65. The firm has a market cap of $213.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

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.