TFC Financial Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

TFC Financial Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $43,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th 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 approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $137.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $130.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.93. The stock has a market cap of $220.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.