Sivia Capital Partners LLC Decreases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $131.89 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $118.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.18. 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 $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $211.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last three months. Corporate 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.