Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by 1834 Investment Advisors Co.

1834 Investment Advisors Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 693 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $518,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0 %

MS stock opened at $137.85 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $139.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.