First Affirmative Financial Network Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First Affirmative Financial Network reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 322.9% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 9,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,981 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 66,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,906,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.0% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 203.6% during the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 12,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after buying an additional 8,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 109.0% during the 3rd quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 3,427 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $110.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $101.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The company has a market cap of $179.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $111.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.96%.

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.