Evoke Wealth LLC Reduces Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Evoke Wealth LLC decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 273 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1 %

MS opened at $118.08 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.