Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $2.19 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,280,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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 owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.94.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $135.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

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.