Simon Quick Advisors LLC Sells 2,927 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,927 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,479 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,736,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned 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 an average price target of $133.23.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $129.44. 4,367,543 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,698,674. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $207.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.18.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction 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 $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.