Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,828 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,828 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $597,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $139.04. The stock has a market cap of $220.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.48 and its 200-day moving average is $115.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % 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.