Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Has $37.63 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 322,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,783 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.2% of Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $37,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $144.50 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $144.56. The company has a market cap of $231.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30. 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's 50-day moving average price is $129.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.93.

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

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.62.

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.

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