Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Mosaic Financial Group LLC

Mosaic Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Mosaic Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $579,000. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.0% in the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 77,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,070,000 after purchasing an additional 5,738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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 transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $129.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.46. 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 one year low of $79.62 and a one year high of $136.24.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.80.

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.