Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Position Lessened by Meyer Handelman Co.

Meyer Handelman Co. reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 444 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,305,000 after acquiring an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 16,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $110.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $179.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $101.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.52. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $111.47.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.96%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.