Stolper Co Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Stolper Co trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. Stolper Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $10,140,000. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $27,728,000. DRW Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 247.2% during the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 15,903 shares during the last quarter. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,666,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at $9,266,848.03. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $110.16 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $110.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 60.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.06.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MS

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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