Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,558 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $90.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.68. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The firm has a market cap of $147.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. 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 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.