Argent Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Argent Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $324,118,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 26,142.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,055,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,661,000 after buying an additional 1,051,189 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE MS opened at $118.21 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $190.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.62. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

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. The firm 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%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid 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 3.13%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.