Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $8.39 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 510 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 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. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.