Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.74 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,739 shares during the quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,619 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 2,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $19,716,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 41,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after purchasing an additional 4,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % 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.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $128.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.57. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $84.43 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.