Key Financial Inc Sells 166 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Financial Inc cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,074,718,000 after purchasing an additional 415,531 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,528,000 after purchasing an additional 277,909 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $956,566,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $904,714,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632,735 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $90.08. The company had a trading volume of 9,533,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,944,144. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $146.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 65.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.13.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.