Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 17,574 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,574 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 2.0% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $47,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $181.98 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $168.99 and its 200 day moving average is $154.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $182.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.77.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.