Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,922 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after purchasing an additional 569,789 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $141.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $130.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.83. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $141.48. The company has a market capitalization of $227.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37.

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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’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 value 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 $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.