Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 4,388 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 57.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,388 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America raised their price target 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. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Eleven equities research 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 stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1 %

MS stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $140.79. 1,927,248 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,435,214. The company has a market cap of $226.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $131.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.43 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) 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. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during 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%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.63%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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 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.