Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,675 shares during the quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th 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 during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd 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 during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8 %

MS stock traded down $0.72 during trading on Monday, reaching $92.11. 4,413,077 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,675,018. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $149.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Cfra upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

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.