Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,248 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 412 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.9% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 89,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,656,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 254,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,698,000 after acquiring an additional 11,407 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 27.8% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 4,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $6,288,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $137.67 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $129.24 and its 200-day moving average is $114.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company 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 business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.