Carret Asset Management LLC Sells 180 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 31,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in 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 last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC lifted their target price 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cfra boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $93.86. 5,100,066 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,804,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $152.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.20. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for 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 10.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.