Wealth Effects LLC Sells 500 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wealth Effects LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Wealth Effects LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.4% in the first quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $147,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.3% in the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.3% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 3,840 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.7% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 12,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $137.78 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $221.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $125.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.37.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

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.