Wealthspire Advisors LLC Has $3.46 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 946 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the first quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 23.2% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $162.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $258.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.33 and a 200-day moving average of $145.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.