Mayfair Advisory Group LLC Has $236,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 31,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $802,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

MS stock opened at $130.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $122.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.17. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) 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, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.