Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,490 shares during the quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $542,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $138.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $139.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $129.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.26. 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 (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, 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 owned by company insiders.

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.