Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Has $2.41 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,479 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,018 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.87 on Friday. 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's 50-day moving average is $125.87 and its 200-day moving average is $125.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.39 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's 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 now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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