Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Trimmed by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 216,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,245 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after buying an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 90 days, insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.10 on Wednesday, reaching $93.86. 5,100,066 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,804,559. The stock has a market cap of $152.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.