Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 91 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New Hampshire grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $123.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,615,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,431,593. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $128.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.80.

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.