Centaurus Financial Inc. Trims Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Centaurus Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 31.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,189 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $87,558,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,850,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $41,208,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,077,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,536,000 after purchasing an additional 343,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16,858.9% during the second quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 339,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,773,000 after buying an additional 337,347 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.81.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $133.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $116.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.55. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The company has a market capitalization of $215.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio 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.