Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Sells 139 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 139 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 167,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,415,000 after acquiring an additional 26,043 shares during the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 13,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.4% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 10,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 29,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $133.67 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.55. The firm has a market cap of $215.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.81.

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.