Fourpath Capital Management LLC Sells 821 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fourpath Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 821 shares during the period. Fourpath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $156,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 7,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,249 shares during the period. Finally, Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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 upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MS opened at $131.95 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $211.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.19% 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.