Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Acquires 2,412 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 81.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after buying an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $162.31 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $167.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a market cap of $257.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $158.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.21.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

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.