Charles Aubrey Smith III Sells 11,200 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.66. The company had a trading volume of 8,134,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,904,789. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The company has a market cap 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $88.82 and a 200-day moving average of $84.85.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Cfra boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.90.

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.