Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,905 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after buying an additional 517,446 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after acquiring an additional 277,909 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,820,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $815,908,000 after acquiring an additional 383,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,067,000 after purchasing an additional 483,859 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cfra lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:MS traded up $1.80 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $97.44. 3,164,322 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,351,779. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $97.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $90.69 and its 200-day moving average is $86.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 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 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.