Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 448,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,658,000 after buying an additional 14,521 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 16,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after buying an additional 1,626 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management now owns 19,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 18,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded down $1.28 on Tuesday, hitting $90.83. 5,859,814 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,641,185. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.75 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.