Godsey & Gibb Inc. Buys 239 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.56.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $121.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $103.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.38. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $121.45. The firm has a market cap of $196.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

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.