Golden State Wealth Management LLC Buys 3,840 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 143.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,840 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company's 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 sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:MS traded up $0.89 on Friday, hitting $140.64. 7,240,555 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,681,678. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.44. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $225.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.