DAVENPORT & Co LLC Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 39.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,853 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the second quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 36.1% in the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the second quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $181.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $168.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.49. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $182.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.77.

About Morgan Stanley

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.