Perigon Wealth Management LLC Sells 16,134 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 34.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,134 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $324,118,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price 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. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $139.87 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $224.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.44. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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