Hancock Whitney Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hancock Whitney Corp lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 579 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

MS opened at $131.20 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.96. The company has a market capitalization of $211.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.