Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Lowers Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 69,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,566 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.1% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $124.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,424,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,796,216. The company has a market cap of $199.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.63.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

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.