Prudent Man Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,184 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,749 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.7% of Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after buying an additional 633,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,850,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $134.06 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.93. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $76.33 and a fifty-two week high of $134.91. The company has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

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.