Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV Sells 5,723 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,723 shares during the quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $579,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $127.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Activity

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 owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.80.

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.