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

Mutual Advisors LLC cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,575 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $137.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $222.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.61. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $139.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.