Claro Advisors LLC Sells 1,347 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Claro Advisors LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,347 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $354,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 136.4% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 37,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 21,921 shares in the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% in the second quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 25,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,514,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $199.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.61 and its 200 day moving average is $112.83. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Bank of America upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.