Forum Financial Management LP Sells 3,215 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Forum Financial Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,215 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $157.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.03. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $166.77. The stock has a market cap of $252.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

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.