Lipe & Dalton Has $3.23 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lipe & Dalton cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.7% of Lipe & Dalton’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction 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 represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.0 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.60 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 stock has a market cap of $212.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.77. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two 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 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley 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.