Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Greystone Financial Group LLC

Greystone Financial Group LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,367 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.2% of Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MS. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment 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, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.60 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.43 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $132.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.77. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.