Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Lessened by Meyer Handelman Co.

Meyer Handelman Co. cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 51.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 29,564 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $96.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $156.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

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.