PDS Planning Inc Sells 153 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

PDS Planning Inc decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 153 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $319,000. Telemus Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 80,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,501,000 after acquiring an additional 16,002 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,254,000 after acquiring an additional 2,528 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 15,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $914,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $1.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,474,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,786,204. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.10. The company has a market capitalization of $152.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.