Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $43,850,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MS opened at $117.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.86. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $70.27 and a 1-year high of $121.45. The stock has a market cap of $191.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.