Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Has $8.89 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 411 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.7% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,888,000 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. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,046,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $136,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 6,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $301,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.