Noesis Capital Mangement Corp Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Noesis Capital Mangement Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during 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 in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 113.0% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $163.84 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $167.13.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.