Sigma Planning Corp Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,453 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was 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 available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.60 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 has a 50 day moving average of $132.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.96. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.43 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $212.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37.

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 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.