Rathbones Group PLC Sells 112,297 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Rathbones Group PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 652,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 112,297 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $82,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $129.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $108.04. The stock had a trading volume of 10,570,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,752,036. 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 $85.12 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $174.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50-day moving average is $122.52 and its 200 day moving average is $124.28.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.