Cwm LLC Buys 6,202 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cwm LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,202 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 18.4% in the third quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 8,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $104,000. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 5,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.06.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.2 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $110.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $179.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $101.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.47. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $111.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 60.96%.

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.