Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by denkapparat Operations GmbH

denkapparat Operations GmbH reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 558 shares during the quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,420,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Park Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $169.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a market cap of $269.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $159.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.31. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.