Kintegral Advisory LLC Sells 4,314 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kintegral Advisory LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,314 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.1% of Kintegral Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Kintegral Advisory LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bell Bank grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 5,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 17,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 15,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $131.60 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.43 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $132.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.