Stratos Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Stratos Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 962 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 79,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,962,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 55,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,016,000 after buying an additional 7,480 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 11,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 2,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

MS stock opened at $136.78 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $130.05 and a 200 day moving average of $116.43. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $141.48. The firm has a market cap of $220.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.