Chesapeake Wealth Management Sells 302 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chesapeake Wealth Management cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 110.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $573,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $133.78 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.22. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $135.51. The stock has a market cap of $215.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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 business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, 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 report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.29.

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.