Donoghue Forlines LLC Sells 1,581 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Donoghue Forlines LLC lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,581 shares during the quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $165.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $159.48 and its 200-day moving average is $144.45. 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 has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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.