Colonial River Investments LLC Has $225,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Colonial River Investments LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 402 shares during the quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MS opened at $129.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $132.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.43 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.