Private Advisor Group LLC Has $9.09 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,119 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.8% in the third 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. Eastern Bank increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 231.3% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 9,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 6,436 shares during the last quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.8% during the third quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 4,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 4.5 %

MS stock opened at $134.36 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $84.43 and a twelve month high of $142.03. 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 company has a market cap of $216.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 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. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.