Advocate Group LLC Sells 3,916 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Advocate Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,916 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.6% of Advocate Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Advocate Group LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,972,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Covea Finance purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,360,000. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $437,000. Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 4,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $132.56. 8,899,235 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,705,543. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market cap of $212.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. The firm's fifty day moving average is $123.65 and its 200-day moving average is $125.21. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

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.