Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Lowered by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Empower Advisory Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 35.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,933 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,178 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:MS traded down $3.04 on Friday, hitting $131.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,813,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,445,805. 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 stock has a market cap of $211.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $132.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.50. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $84.43 and a 1-year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.