Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Sells 7,606 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 76.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,606 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,040,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $135.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

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.