Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 809 shares during the quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in 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. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $138.49 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.26. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $139.04. The company has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.