M&R Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

M&R Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Surevest LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Surevest LLC now owns 411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 118.9% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,824,933.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $2,412,135.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,706,921.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at $33,824,933.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Cfra raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Wolfe Research lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.3 %

MS stock traded down $2.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.18. The company had a trading volume of 19,935,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,134,612. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $141.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.84. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $72.05 and a fifty-two week high of $100.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 50.49%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.