PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Acquires 34,637 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 224,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,637 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.0% of PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $42,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $189.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $152.80 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.44.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. HSBC lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $236.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.81.

Latest Morgan Stanley News

Investors following MS have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer agent that provides share transfers, shareholder recordkeeping and cap-table services. Bringing these capabilities in-house could deepen the firm’s services to corporate clients and strengthen links to its workplace and wealth-management businesses. Why Is Morgan Stanley Bringing Transfer Agency In House?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing Morgan Stanley’s recent digital initiatives, including transfer agency and tokenization, against whether its returns on capital justify its strong multiyear share-price gains. The coverage raises a valuation question but does not report a new change to earnings or guidance. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After New Digital Moves?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, reducing her stake by 3.72%. The sale is a modest potential sentiment headwind given her substantial remaining holding. Morgan Stanley Director Sells Shares

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total transaction of $454,360.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 64,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,764,830.15. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.