Patten & Patten Inc. TN Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.1% in Q2, now holding 30,636 shares worth $4.3 million.
• Analysts are bullish on Morgan Stanley, with Goldman Sachs raising its price target from $145 to $164 and several other firms also increasing their projections.
• Morgan Stanley plans to pay a $1.00 quarterly dividend on November 14th, representing an annualized yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 45.30%.

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 13.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,617 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,523,337,000 after purchasing an additional 219,729 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,126,205,000 after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 4.2%

MS stock opened at $161.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $258.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $166.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $152.60 and a 200-day moving average of $136.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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