Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. Sells 159 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the third quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of MS traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.46. 1,740,328 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,760,544. The company has a market cap of $152.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Cfra upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

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.