Cape ANN Savings Bank Lowers Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cape ANN Savings Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Cape ANN Savings Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $87,558,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $85,535,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley 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 value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $107.51 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $174.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.41 and a 200-day moving average of $98.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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.