Tidal Investments LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tidal Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 81,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,429 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $130.76 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $116.05 and a 200-day moving average of $125.37. The firm has a market cap of $209.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.46.

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.