Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 672,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,101 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $70,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coastwise Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $354,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 233,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,340,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3,067.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 22,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aureus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 57,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,958,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” 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 research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $118.00.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $131.61 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $119.29 and a 200-day moving average of $106.46. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $79.32 and a 52-week high of $136.24.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given 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 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 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.