Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 4,692 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 153,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,692 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 1.4% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,834 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 137,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,306,000 after purchasing an additional 6,202 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.6% during the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised 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. Bank of America lifted 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $130.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.00. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.