Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Trims Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 299,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,574 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.0% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $47,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% during the 3rd quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Wolfe Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $181.98 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.49. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $182.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.