Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Reduced by Chapin Davis Inc.

Chapin Davis Inc. decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.9% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 3,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $99.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.15 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.81. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.