Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 600 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 810.8% in the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.23.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $93.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.76%.

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.