Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 206,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,766 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $36,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Florida Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Rothschild Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Wealth LLC now owns 4,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 509,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,523,000 after acquiring an additional 5,467 shares during the period. Finally, Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,421,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was highlighted in coverage of U.S. banks near record highs, with the firm benefiting from accelerating earnings and sales growth across the sector. Morgan Stanley Joins Elite List As Stock Hits Highs; Goldman Sachs Rides Massive Deals Wave
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst and valuation commentary has reinforced the bull case, with investors focusing on Morgan Stanley’s strong earnings revisions and upgraded outlook after a solid quarterly beat. A Look At Morgan Stanley (MS) Valuation As Analyst Upgrades And Earnings Revisions Lift Confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from “strong-buy” to “hold,” which may cap some upside, but the market appears to be looking past that call for now. Zacks.com

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE MS opened at $207.74 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $126.35 and a twelve month high of $208.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $327.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $183.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Dbs Bank upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.