De Lisle Partners LLP Takes $521,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $521,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 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 worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $131.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.14. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $136.24.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.00.

Morgan Stanley 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.