Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Chairman Sells $9,021,000.00 in Stock

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $90.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,134,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,904,789. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.85.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.90.

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.