Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by M&R Capital Management Inc.

M&R Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 68.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,083,000 after buying an additional 7,514,505 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $451,711,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 123.3% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,183,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,546,000 after buying an additional 1,757,682 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $790,232,000 after buying an additional 1,566,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 152.3% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,500,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,589 shares during the period. 83.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $2,412,135.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at $18,706,921.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $2,412,135.88. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at $18,706,921.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 5,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $494,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 118,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,500,126. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, January 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Cfra raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of MS traded down $2.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.18. 19,935,825 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,134,612. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.84. The company has a market cap of $141.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $72.05 and a 1-year high of $100.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 31st were paid a $0.775 dividend. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.49%.

About Morgan Stanley

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.