Abbrea Capital LLC Sells 921 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Abbrea Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 921 shares during the quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 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 acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $92.56. 6,762,586 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,779,054. The company has a market capitalization of $150.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43. 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 fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

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.