Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $37.50 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 359,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,410 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $37,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $133.82. 159,965 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,059,740. 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 has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $134.65. The company has a market cap of $215.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.