Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Tanager Wealth Management LLP

Tanager Wealth Management LLP reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,771 shares during the quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after purchasing an additional 569,789 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

MS opened at $136.78 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $220.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $141.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 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 analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.