Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 805 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MS opened at $132.98 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $134.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $111.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.26. The firm has a market cap of $214.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $142.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with 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, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.29.

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.