Golden State Equity Partners Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Golden State Equity Partners decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 693 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $92.83. 4,606,109 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,720,944. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.40. The stock has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.