Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Advisory Services Network LLC

Advisory Services Network LLC reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 463 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Union Savings Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer upped 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, April 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $0.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,603,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,476,548. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $105.82.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.