Morgan Stanley $MS Stake Cut by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,118 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 147,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,267 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 10,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,242,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 237,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,654,000 after purchasing an additional 2,688 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research 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.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $165.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.71. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $166.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $264.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley 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.