IHT Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Thrive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.4% in the second quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.6% in the second quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 4,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 238,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,176,000 after purchasing an additional 18,009 shares during the period. Finally, New Hampshire Trust bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of MS opened at $129.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $209.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $79.62 and a 1 year high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.