Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Lessened by Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.

Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,801,000 after buying an additional 22,095 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 61.9% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MS shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.66.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $2.15 on Wednesday, reaching $89.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,291,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,302,008. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.78. The stock has a market cap of $145.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were 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 owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.