Evercore Wealth Management LLC Has $160.22 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Evercore Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,274,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,364 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 2.4% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $160,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd 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. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of MS opened at $110.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.55 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.