Golden State Equity Partners Has $890,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Golden State Equity Partners decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 693 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.83. 4,606,109 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,720,944. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.40.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

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.