Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,523,337,000 after purchasing an additional 219,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,126,205,000 after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:MS opened at $158.70 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $153.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $166.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.54.

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.