Magnus Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Magnus Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third 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. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of MS opened at $92.80 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.48.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.