Integrity Alliance LLC. Sells 821 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Integrity Alliance LLC. trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 821 shares during the period. Integrity Alliance LLC.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Novem Group grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 31.9% during the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 2,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the first quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 11,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,314,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MS stock opened at $164.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $167.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.68 and a 200 day moving average of $141.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

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.