Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 36,150 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 30.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,150 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Eleven research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm'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 sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% 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 Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.89 on Tuesday, reaching $135.89. 5,510,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,083,479. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $218.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $124.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.21.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley's 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.