Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Decreases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 222,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,279 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.7% of Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 164,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 13,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.6% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Connors Investor Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the first quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 235,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,206,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.8% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 5,816,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,714,000 after buying an additional 316,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, hitting $132.86. The company had a trading volume of 529,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,062,686. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $214.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $134.91.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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 transaction 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 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC raised 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.29.

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.