Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,568 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE:MS opened at $168.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $267.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued 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 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.