FourThought Financial Partners LLC Sells 291 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 291 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. FMR LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after buying an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after buying an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,067,000 after buying an additional 483,859 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,913,000 after acquiring an additional 766,530 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,043,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $90.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.98. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’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 directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.