Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. Has $3.37 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 266 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 2.1% of Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DRW Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 247.2% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after buying an additional 15,903 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 16,507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.46. The company had a trading volume of 5,826,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,027,333. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.47. The company has a market cap of $179.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $111.47. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 60.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.06.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.