Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Sells 2,200 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 23,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.8% of Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. WP Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 15,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 77.5% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 56,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,048,000 after buying an additional 24,477 shares during the period. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, 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. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $134.36 on Friday. 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 has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $132.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.50. The company has a market cap of $216.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

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.