Morgan Stanley $MS Position Cut by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,409,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 60,522 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $198,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 147,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,703,000 after buying an additional 8,267 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth $491,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $163.78 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $166.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a market capitalization of $261.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

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.