Hosking Partners LLP Sells 110,901 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hosking Partners LLP lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 33.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 110,901 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.5% during the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the third quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 141,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,699,000 after purchasing an additional 6,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $274,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $129.23 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $84.43 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.80 and a 200 day moving average of $120.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.