Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Invests $519,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $519,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Barclays boosted 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $134.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.93. 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 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $134.91.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business 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 was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio 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.