Financial Advocates Investment Management Trims Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Financial Advocates Investment Management decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Adero Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $245,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $488,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,577,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8 %

MS opened at $139.88 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.35. The company has a market capitalization of $225.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.