Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Has $23.20 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 222,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,279 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.7% of Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $111.29.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $132.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 529,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,062,686. The company has a market capitalization of $214.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $76.33 and a 52-week high of $134.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $111.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during 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%. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

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.