Cullen Capital Management LLC Sells 26,585 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Cullen Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,636,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 26,585 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 2.6% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned 0.10% of Morgan Stanley worth $230,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,234,883,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $343,236,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 319.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the first quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Dbs Bank raised Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $178.57 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $181.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.40.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.