Carret Asset Management LLC Has $3.06 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Carret Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 the 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, 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. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.48.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of MS traded up $0.55 on Wednesday, hitting $100.20. 2,992,401 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,587,725. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25. The company has a market capitalization of $162.84 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

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.