Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by SlateStone Wealth LLC

SlateStone Wealth LLC decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 307 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded up $1.58 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.67. 3,243,983 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,808,900. The company has a market cap of $152.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.07.

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.