Hourglass Capital LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hourglass Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,760 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 2.2% of Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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 lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

MS opened at $132.75 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $134.65. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $110.49 and its 200-day moving average is $103.05. The company has a market capitalization of $213.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.