Burney Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Burney Co. decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 46.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,447 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the second quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the second quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Park Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the second quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of MS stock opened at $163.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $261.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $167.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $156.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm 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 last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.