MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.4% in the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 6,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 34.7% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 13,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 3,410 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the second quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 11,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.80.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $126.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $122.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $81.96 and a 12 month high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.