Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Has $260,000 Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 322.9% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 9,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 6,981 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silverlake Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $211,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.88 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $130.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $225.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.