Castleview Partners LLC Has $288,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Castleview Partners LLC lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.6% during the first quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $870,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Covea Finance bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,360,000. Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $437,000. Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 4,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.0%

MS opened at $132.56 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $212.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $123.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.