Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,088 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Panagora Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,088 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.38.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $168.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $267.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.33. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

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.