Venture Visionary Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,949 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,609 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 303,654 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in 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 valued at $1,029,970,000 after buying an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the first 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. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $118.28 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.57. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $121.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $192.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.