Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,164 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.4% during the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 44,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.79.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $90.87. 1,606,650 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,843,059. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $147.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.