Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by OneAscent Family Office LLC

OneAscent Family Office LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 47.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,792 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Family Office LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,610,881,000 after buying an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,337,000 after buying an additional 219,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,126,205,000 after buying an additional 442,617 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $165.20 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.44. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $167.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.