Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 27.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,377 shares during the quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE MS opened at $134.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $134.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.93.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.29.

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.