TrueMark Investments LLC Has $1.95 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

TrueMark Investments LLC cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 373 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.8% of TrueMark Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. TrueMark Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $94,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 1,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.80. 7,437,162 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,658,223. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $96.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.54. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.