Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Edge Capital Group LLC

Edge Capital Group LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,914 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.2% of Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 7,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 165.9% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 9,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 6,163 shares during the period. Partners Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $378,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $3,975,000. Hedge funds and other 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 stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.60 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.16. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $84.43 and a 12-month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 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.