Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,947,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,830 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.12% of Morgan Stanley worth $202,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 37.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 2,368 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,734,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,532,000 after purchasing an additional 33,930 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $127.40 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24. The stock has a market cap of $205.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.