Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $2.18 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,063 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $123.75 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $132.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.72. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $84.43 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $199.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.