Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 113.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 618,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 327,870 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $87,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management boosted 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 purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7%

MS stock opened at $162.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $257.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.21. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $167.13.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

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.