Optimum Investment Advisors Has $163,000 Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Optimum Investment Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,750 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. 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 of $130.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.97. The company has a market cap of $193.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.60.

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.