SouthState Corp Trims Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

SouthState Corp reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,116 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 46.0% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 9,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 2,875 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 622.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 48,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,549,000 after acquiring an additional 42,033 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Ashburton Jersey Ltd boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Ashburton Jersey Ltd now owns 31,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,888,380,000 after purchasing an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.64. 5,036,988 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,504,937. The company has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $90.16 and its 200-day moving average is $85.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.