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Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,689 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 52.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,689 shares during the period. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $136.69.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $143.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,622,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,687,976. The stock has a market cap of $229.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $131.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Morgan Stanley Profile

(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.

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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