Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC Cuts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 73,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 636 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 1.6% of Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 385.2% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.13.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $2.53 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $128.47. The company had a trading volume of 4,274,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,339,759. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $127.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.58. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24. The firm has a market cap of $206.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.