Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Has $361,000 Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 57.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,111 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth 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 period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Union Savings Bank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Cfra upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.18.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 255,454 shares of company stock valued at $26,870,683. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $2.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.09. The company had a trading volume of 12,555,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,320,718. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.88. The stock has a market cap of $165.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

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.