Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.

Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,058 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.9% of Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE MS opened at $163.75 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a market cap of $260.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.