NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 181,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 547 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.4%

MS stock opened at $129.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $117.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.46. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $207.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend 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.