Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,490 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Insight Inv LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 90,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,336,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 40,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,073,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 32,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,100,000 after purchasing an additional 17,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $138.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $139.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by 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.