Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by New England Research & Management Inc.

New England Research & Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth approximately $214,000. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 32,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,342,000 after buying an additional 6,078 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 37.8% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,117,000 after buying an additional 5,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MS traded down $0.19 on Monday, reaching $107.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,439,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,079,627. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $175.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $100.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.98. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.