Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Director Sells $454,360.80 in Stock

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total value of $454,360.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 64,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $189.36 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $152.80 and a one year high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $193.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.44.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 15.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.51%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

Investors following MS have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley agreed to acquire Vinyl Equity, a digital transfer agent that provides share transfers, shareholder recordkeeping and cap-table services. Bringing these capabilities in-house could deepen the firm’s services to corporate clients and strengthen links to its workplace and wealth-management businesses. Why Is Morgan Stanley Bringing Transfer Agency In House?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are weighing Morgan Stanley’s recent digital initiatives, including transfer agency and tokenization, against whether its returns on capital justify its strong multiyear share-price gains. The coverage raises a valuation question but does not report a new change to earnings or guidance. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After New Digital Moves?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley director Judith Miscik sold 2,480 shares for about $454,000, reducing her stake by 3.72%. The sale is a modest potential sentiment headwind given her substantial remaining holding. Morgan Stanley Director Sells Shares

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.