Chapin Davis Inc. Sells 204 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chapin Davis Inc. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. Chapin Davis Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 15,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $343,000. River Street Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the first quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 16,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.5% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 82,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,203,000 after buying an additional 14,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $99.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.81. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $103.25. The stock has a market cap of $161.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

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.