SouthState Corp Sells 1,116 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

SouthState Corp reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,116 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted 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 worth $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after buying an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after buying an additional 277,909 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in 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. raised 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 valued at $544,913,000 after acquiring an additional 766,530 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

MS traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.64. 5,036,988 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,504,937. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $90.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.