Mather Group LLC. Sells 110 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mather Group LLC. reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 110 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 3,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. United Community Bank raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $97.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25. The stock has a market cap of $158.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.05.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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, Oppenheimer lifted their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

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.