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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 76,299 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical daily volume of 51,510 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $79.15 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 19th. UBS Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $84.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $101.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 135 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $203,000. Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 335,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,407,000 after acquiring an additional 154,372 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.3% during the third quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 221,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,702 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.0% in the third quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 6,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 43.1% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.47. 5,024,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,686,277. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.40. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $100.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.68 and a 200-day moving average of $83.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 10.86% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $13.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 60.93%.

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.