TCTC Holdings LLC Sells 2,497 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

TCTC Holdings LLC cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,497 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $129.53 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $73.96 and a 1 year high of $133.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $109.23 and its 200-day moving average is $102.36. The company has a market capitalization of $210.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 10.64%. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.