Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 80.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,143 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded up $3.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $109.68. 1,467,161 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,835,438. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.55 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.