Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is Blue Chip Partners LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Blue Chip Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 279,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,513 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 3.0% of Blue Chip Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $35,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in 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. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $139.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.67. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $84.41 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other 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 value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.