Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 1,167 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,167 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 20,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,000 after buying an additional 3,547 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 168.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 79,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,377,000 after buying an additional 5,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 24,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,322,000 after buying an additional 2,523 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $92.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.44. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

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.