Calamos Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Calamos Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 741,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,196 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $69,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 810.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $90.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,747,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,914,989. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.79.

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.