Beacon Financial Group Sells 134 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Beacon Financial Group decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Reik & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5 %

MS stock opened at $137.13 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $142.03. 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 cap of $220.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $130.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.93.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.