Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Harbour Investments Inc.

Harbour Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 58.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 30.7% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 110.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 13,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2 %

MS stock opened at $134.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.93. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $134.91. The company has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm 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, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley 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.