Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Sells 1,957 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,957 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansing Street Advisors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $135.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $217.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. 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 $135.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $112.55 and its 200 day moving average is $103.93.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with 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 $111.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.