Lee Financial Co Sells 185 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lee Financial Co lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the quarter. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $139.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $224.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.41 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $131.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.46.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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 link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was 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 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.