Gradient Investments LLC Has $39.20 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 336,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,193 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $39,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.8% during the first quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 1,874 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $208,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 99,185.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 33,757 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,938,000 after buying an additional 33,723 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 19.2% in the first quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 115,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,497,000 after buying an additional 18,658 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 15.4% in the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 3,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, 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 value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Citigroup cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $130.55. 2,335,866 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,661,819. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $118.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.32. The company has a market cap of $209.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley 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.