Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 89,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,150 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,850,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $116.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.17. The firm has a market cap of $189.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $71.65 and a 1 year high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.