Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Seven Mile Advisory

Seven Mile Advisory trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the quarter. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $358,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $1,910,200,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $324,118,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,731,000 after buying an additional 2,453,470 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $195,742,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Citigroup decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.2 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $115.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.97. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.