Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 847 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 847 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,491,000 after purchasing an additional 5,502 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 17,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,827,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 100,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,269,000 after buying an additional 10,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $129.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $209.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.