Titleist Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Titleist Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 638 shares during the quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.1% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.0% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,306,000 after acquiring an additional 4,572 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.2% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 289,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,168,000 after acquiring an additional 38,209 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $100.70 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market cap of $162.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $126.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.42. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company 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.