Fiducient Advisors LLC Has $295,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fiducient Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 321 shares during the quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,164,000 after purchasing an additional 16,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $87,558,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $117.94 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $106.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $70.27 and a 52 week high of $121.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.