Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Sells 824 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 824 shares during the quarter. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third 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 buying an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $137.78 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $128.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.31. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $138.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market cap of $221.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.