Carret Asset Management LLC Acquires 2,435 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Carret Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,435 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.9 %

MS stock opened at $116.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $105.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.22. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.