Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 6,679 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,679 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after acquiring an additional 27,845 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MS opened at $97.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $103.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.