Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC Lowers Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 636 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.6% of Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after acquiring an additional 569,789 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $43,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $2.53 on Monday, hitting $128.47. 4,274,602 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,339,759. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.58. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.13.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were 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. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.