Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,508 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $138.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $129.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.26. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $139.04.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

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.