OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Sells 3,420 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 57.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,420 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of MS opened at $92.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $149.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MS shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.