Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 37,411 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 39% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,873 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MS. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 7,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 143.0% in the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 80,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,157,000 after purchasing an additional 47,544 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 52,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $135.80 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $128.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $218.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

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.