Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Decreased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 123,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,291 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $87,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer cut 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 430,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,064,316. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $110.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.05. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $134.10. The company has a market cap of $215.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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.