Great Diamond Partners LLC Sells 99 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Great Diamond Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $138.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.84. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $141.48. The firm has a market cap of $222.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.