M&G PLC lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,402 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crown Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the second quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.7% in the second quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Bank OZK increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the second quarter. Bank OZK now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.
Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley
In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total transaction of $454,360.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 64,215 shares in the company, valued at $11,764,830.15. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.81.
View Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley
Top Morgan Stanley Stories
Investors following MS have been watching these stories:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer-agent platform. The deal would add share-transfer and shareholder-recordkeeping services to Morgan Stanley at Work, potentially strengthening workplace and wealth-management relationships and helping the firm retain clients as private companies go public. Sidley Represents Morgan Stanley in Its Acquisition of Vinyl Equity
- Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson said the market correction may be nearing its end but urged selectivity. A recovery could benefit trading and investment-banking activity, although this is a broad market view rather than a specific forecast for MS. Morgan Stanley strategist on the market correction
- Negative Sentiment: Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, trimming her stake by 3.72%. The sale may weigh slightly on sentiment, but she retained more than 64,000 shares, limiting its significance. Morgan Stanley director share sale
Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6%
Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $190.59 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $297.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $193.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.41.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.51%.
Morgan Stanley Profile
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.
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