Headinvest LLC Trims Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Headinvest LLC decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Headinvest LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $126.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $116.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.46.

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.