Claro Advisors LLC Sells 2,277 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Claro Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 37.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,277 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $362,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $165.20 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $167.13. The company has a market cap of $263.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $157.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

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.