Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Decreases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,380 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 worth $1,251,387,000 after buying an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted 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 buying an additional 212,551 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,969,000 after buying an additional 57,104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $117.87 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $73.96 and a twelve month high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.