DRW Securities LLC Has $477,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

DRW Securities LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 62.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,515 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $115.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.8 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $117.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $76.33 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

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.