Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 197,708 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,593 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $92.28 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. Cfra raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

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.