First Dallas Securities Inc. Sells 1,300 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First Dallas Securities Inc. cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $128.62 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $81.96 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24. The stock has a market cap of $207.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley 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.