Summit Global Investments Sells 10,957 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Summit Global Investments lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 83.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,957 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 5,155 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $380,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.4% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 7,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 247,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,818,000 after buying an additional 43,664 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $124.38 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $200.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $130.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.31.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.93.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.