Wealthspire Advisors LLC Sells 3,174 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,174 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $131.60 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $212.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.