Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,849 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $324,118,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453,470 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $108.04 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.49 and a one year high of $142.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.42. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six 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 $129.87.

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.