Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Marino Stram & Associates LLC

Marino Stram & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,333 shares during the quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,801,000 after buying an additional 22,095 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 61.9% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 64.5% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 66.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.48.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded up $2.70 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,207,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,843,653. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.