Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $104.26 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,000,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,261 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.4% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $104,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,228,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,292,000 after buying an additional 495,055 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $110.46. 5,826,183 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,027,333. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $101.02 and a 200 day moving average of $98.52. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $111.47. The company has a market capitalization of $179.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.06.

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.