Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,756 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other 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 value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.68. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $135.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

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.