Wade G W & Inc. Sells 9,697 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wade G W & Inc. lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,524 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,697 shares during the quarter. Wade G W & Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cfra lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.82 on Tuesday, hitting $99.38. The company had a trading volume of 6,210,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,312,817. The company has a market capitalization of $161.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.41. The company's fifty day moving average price is $91.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $100.18.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company 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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