Lindbrook Capital LLC Sells 420 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lindbrook Capital LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 420 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,074,718,000 after buying an additional 415,531 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after buying an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $956,566,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $904,714,000 after buying an additional 10,632,735 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

MS stock opened at $90.66 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.01. The company has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. 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 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102. Corporate 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.