Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 79.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 180,868 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $763,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 23,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,090,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claris Financial LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $446,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.35.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Ridgeback Group agreed to buy Metra Living for £1.045 billion, expanding MS into U.K. rental housing and underscoring its private-markets and real estate growth strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS) Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Morgan Stanley is also benefiting from renewed investor enthusiasm for banks, with the broader financial sector hitting records ahead of the Fed meeting, which is helping support MS sentiment. Big Bank Stocks Hit Records Ahead of Fed Meeting
• Positive Sentiment: News flow continues to frame MS as a long-term growth and wealth-management winner, with commentary highlighting its ambition to reach $10 trillion in client assets and potential upside from a future SpaceX IPO mandate. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Morgan Stanley today were mostly research-related, including notes on oil and sector calls, which are more likely to affect sentiment around specific industries than MS’s core earnings outlook.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $198.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $130.90 and a fifty-two week high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.