Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Seven Mile Advisory

Seven Mile Advisory reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $115.23 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.