Charles Carroll Financial Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Charles Carroll Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 0.7% of Charles Carroll Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Charles Carroll Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,070,528,000 after acquiring an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,067,000 after acquiring an additional 483,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,913,000 after acquiring an additional 766,530 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.64. The company had a trading volume of 5,043,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.