Courier Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Courier Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Capital International Investors increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after buying an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after buying an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,969,000 after buying an additional 57,104 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $118.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $192.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

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.