Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,169,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 321,473 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,998,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at about $87,558,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,850,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,208,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $33,683,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $135.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.68. The stock has a market cap of $212.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.23 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. 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. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.