Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 277,909 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,067,000 after acquiring an additional 483,859 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,913,000 after purchasing an additional 766,530 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $477,765,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $93.64 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $90.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.87. The firm has a market cap of $152.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

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.