Chesapeake Wealth Management Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chesapeake Wealth Management reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Chesapeake Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after buying an additional 1,116,058 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $43,850,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $133.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $215.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $113.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.22. 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 has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $135.51.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

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.