Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Cut by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 267,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,949 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $24,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 810.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $90.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 65.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.13.

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.