SlateStone Wealth LLC Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 36,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the period. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $255,000. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Centurion Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 126,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,942,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $115.41 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $186.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.