Planning Capital Management Corp Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 115.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $37,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake 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 valued at $122,581,000 after buying an additional 1,116,058 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 433.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $43,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MS opened at $132.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $111.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.26. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.79%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

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.