Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Position Cut by Castle Wealth Management LLC

Castle Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,273 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Lansing Street Advisors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the second quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% in the third quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $130.50 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $108.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $73.96 and a 1 year high of $133.52. The stock has a market cap of $212.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.34.

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 paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.