Genesee Capital Advisors LLC Has $953,000 Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Genesee Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mason & Associates Inc increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 3,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $138.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.26. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $139.04. 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 $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 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.