Strategy Asset Managers LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,131 shares during the quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after buying an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $672,969,000 after buying an additional 57,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.94.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $135.51. The stock has a market cap of $212.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley 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.