Orion Capital Management LLC Sells 280 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Orion Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $324,118,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453,470 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $129.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $207.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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 Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 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.