SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,063 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 105,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,594,000 after purchasing an additional 13,334 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 22.7% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 101,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,289,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $521,000. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC now owns 333,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,251,000 after acquiring an additional 83,732 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5 %

MS opened at $99.65 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $103.25. The company has a market cap of $161.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.86.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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 $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.