Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Sells 343 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 343 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its position 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 worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after buying an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,392,000 after buying an additional 633,319 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $43,850,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 11.6 %

NYSE:MS opened at $131.43 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $73.96 and a 1-year high of $133.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $108.19 and a 200 day moving average of $101.92. The firm has a market cap of $213.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.34. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.