1ST Source Bank Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

1ST Source Bank cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $126.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 641,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,993,876. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $204.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $123.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.19.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

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.