Morgan Stanley $MS Holdings Trimmed by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 35,289 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $78,825,883,310. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,040,227,000. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $295,482,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $110,938,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 89.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,410,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $232,092,000 after acquiring an additional 666,754 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judith A. Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total value of $454,360.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 64,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of MS opened at $187.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $152.80 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 15.63%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.51%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Vinyl Equity acquisition would add digital share-transfer and shareholder-recordkeeping capabilities, connecting companies’ equity administration needs with the firm’s workplace and wealth-management services. The strategic rationale is to deepen relationships with private companies and potentially retain more client assets through IPO transitions. Morgan Stanley to Acquire Digital-Native Transfer Agent Vinyl Equity
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson said the recent market correction may be nearing its end, while advising investors to remain selective. A market rebound could support trading and investment-banking activity, but this is a broad-market view rather than a company-specific forecast. Morgan Stanley strategist on market correction
• Negative Sentiment: Director Judith A. Miscik disclosed selling 2,480 Morgan Stanley shares for about $454,000, reducing her holdings by 3.72%. The sale may weigh slightly on sentiment, though its size is limited relative to her remaining stake. SEC filing of director share sale

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.