Golden State Wealth Management LLC Buys 115 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,026,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 103.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 7,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 3,809 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1%

MS stock opened at $144.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $144.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.09. The company has a market capitalization of $231.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.62.

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.