VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Sells 353 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 45.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 353 shares during the quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $60,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $232,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $70,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. First American Trust FSB increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.6% in the second quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 4,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 78.5% in the 2nd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 142,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,044,000 after purchasing an additional 62,565 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MS stock opened at $159.83 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $171.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.77. 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 capitalization of $254.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

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.