United Community Bank Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

United Community Bank lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,822,000. Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 217.1% in the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 288,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,229,000 after purchasing an additional 197,281 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of MS opened at $119.12 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 fifty day moving average of $132.56 and a 200 day moving average of $121.97. The company has a market cap of $192.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.