Freedom Day Solutions LLC Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Freedom Day Solutions LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,215 shares during the quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 112,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,758,000 after purchasing an additional 10,107 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 61,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after acquiring an additional 8,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,039,000 after acquiring an additional 11,149 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:MS opened at $140.70 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $226.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $84.43 and a one year high of $142.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.40.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.