Grandfield & Dodd LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 11,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 95,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 1,128,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,676,000 after purchasing an additional 8,043 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 354.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. now owns 14,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $132.21 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $76.33 and a twelve month high of $135.51. The stock has a market cap of $213.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average is $113.97 and its 200-day moving average is $104.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.29.

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.