Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 87.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,144 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 24,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 422,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000,000 after acquiring an additional 61,682 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $126.80 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.49 and a 200 day moving average of $107.72. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $81.96 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

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.