Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 34,777 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 329,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 34,777 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,969,000 after buying an additional 57,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $1.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $121.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,852,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,119,605. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $103.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.29. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $121.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

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.