1834 Investment Advisors Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

1834 Investment Advisors Co. reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 36.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,729 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after buying an additional 633,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,850,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 11.6 %

Shares of MS opened at $131.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $213.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $73.96 and a 1 year high of $133.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.92.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.