Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 25.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 459,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,556 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $47,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after buying an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after buying an additional 16,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $87,558,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $116.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $188.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $73.96 and a 1-year high of $121.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend 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 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.