Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.89 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $118.66 and its 200 day moving average is $125.18.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 43.43%.

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.