Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 92.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 89,561 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.6%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $165.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $171.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous 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 expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

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.