Howland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Howland Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,356 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,823,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $475,604,000 after purchasing an additional 74,499 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 170,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,885,000 after purchasing an additional 11,913 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 14,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,825 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Finally, Carlson Capital Management increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 6,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.07.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $104.64. The stock had a trading volume of 7,747,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,513,412. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $105.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.31. The company has a market cap of $170.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. 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 firm earned $1.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.