Brown Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brown Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $212.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.68. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $76.33 and a 1-year high of $135.51.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.94.

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.