Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company’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 approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup decreased 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. Bank of America cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE MS 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. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio 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.