Quadrant Capital Group LLC Sells 706 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,801,000 after purchasing an additional 22,095 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 61.9% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 64.5% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 135 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50,000.00, for a total transaction of $6,750,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $79.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.75 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.40. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $100.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.55.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $13.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.22 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 10.86%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 30th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 60.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $79.15 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Atlantic Securities raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, September 25th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Eight equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.71.

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.