Deltec Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Deltec Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Paralel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 21,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $300,000. Corton Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 185.1% in the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 13,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 8,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Services Automobile Association boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.4% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 35,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, 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 three months, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $1.42 on Friday, hitting $97.19. The stock had a trading volume of 9,058,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,035. The company’s 50-day moving average is $96.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.81. The stock has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.