First Affirmative Financial Network Sells 593 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First Affirmative Financial Network reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $140.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.80 and a 200 day moving average of $115.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.