Financial Management Professionals Inc. Sells 171 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.9 %

MS stock opened at $116.88 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $121.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.22.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.