Amundi Increases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Amundi boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,843,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 643,591 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.37% of Morgan Stanley worth $815,177,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $174.87 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock has a market cap of $277.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $176.00.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.