Blueshift Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. NBW Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 2,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13.4% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 34,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,881,000 after acquiring an additional 4,097 shares during the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 19.6% during the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after acquiring an additional 749,150 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $296,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $168.46 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $171.77. The stock has a market cap of $267.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.38.

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.