Morgan Stanley Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MS)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Oct 20th, 2023

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 46,483 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 12% compared to the typical daily volume of 41,585 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. HSBC assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price objective on the stock. Odeon Capital Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Atlantic Securities upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.29.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $72.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $72.89 and a 1 year high of $100.99. The company has a market capitalization of $120.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.07. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The company had revenue of $13.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, June 30th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 30th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 59.96%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50,000.00, for a total value of $6,750,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50,000.00, for a total value of $6,750,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward N. Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $9,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 604,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,055,028.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 225,135 shares of company stock valued at $28,081,750. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 90,635,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,740,280,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480,402 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 46,907,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,118,465,000 after purchasing an additional 913,447 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.3% during the second quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 28,073,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,397,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,908,648 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,013,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,371,814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.8% in the second quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,463,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,089,138,000 after buying an additional 1,341,559 shares in the last quarter. 83.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

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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.