GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 12,318.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.17% of Morgan Stanley worth $320,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 5,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.3% during the first quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 141,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,532,000 after acquiring an additional 9,674 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 13,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 60.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 228,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,644,000 after purchasing an additional 85,985 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.46.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Morgan Stanley
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.
Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2%
MS stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $128.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,175,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,665,874. The firm's 50-day moving average is $117.80 and its 200-day moving average is $125.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market cap of $206.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.
About Morgan Stanley
(
Free Report)
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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