Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 968,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,327 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.7% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $121,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth about $579,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $127.56. 3,097,484 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,185,284. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.02.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.