Optimum Investment Advisors Has $163,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Optimum Investment Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,750 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $130.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.97. The company has a market cap of $193.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.60.

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.