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

Castle Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 281 shares during the quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $142.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.83. The firm has a market cap of $228.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $143.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% 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.