PFG Investments LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

PFG Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 701 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % 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

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0 %

MS stock opened at $137.85 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $222.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $129.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.96. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $139.04.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio 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.