Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Has $11.20 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 78.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 107,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 395,480 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $129.96 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $79.62 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $209.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.00 and a 200-day moving average of $107.46.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.