Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 66,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,116 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after buying an additional 44,725 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $90.09. 6,060,816 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,757,732. The company has a market cap of $146.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.72.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.30. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.48.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.