Autumn Glory Partners LLC Has $1.05 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Autumn Glory Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,535 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.19 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $224.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $131.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.20. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.41 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.