Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,521 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.4% in the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 44,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.23.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $93.50 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $152.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 65.76%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.