Tlwm Has $1.25 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tlwm cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. Tlwm’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 3,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, United Community Bank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $95.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,420,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,630,869. The firm has a market cap of $155.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.58. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $103.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.