GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Acquires 121 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 120,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,407 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,343.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 29,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,748,000 after purchasing an additional 27,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $129.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $121.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

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.