Donald L. Hagan LLC Sells 535 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Donald L. Hagan LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 535 shares during the quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $140.05 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $141.48. The company has a market cap of $225.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. 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 2.64%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

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