Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,261 shares during the quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $120.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $193.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.77. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.