Everpar Advisors LLC Trims Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Everpar Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,986 shares during the quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 3,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,973,000. Visionary Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 103,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,643,000 after purchasing an additional 23,111 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $107.69 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.98. The company has a market cap of $175.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $102.68.

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.