Golden State Equity Partners Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Golden State Equity Partners lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,025 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,387,000 after acquiring an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after acquiring an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,969,000 after acquiring an additional 57,104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on MS

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.1 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $117.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $70.27 and a 1-year high of $121.45. The company has a market cap of $191.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $106.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.86.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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