ASB Consultores LLC Trims Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

ASB Consultores LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after acquiring an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 57,104 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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, UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $116.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $73.96 and a 12-month high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.