Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Has $290,000 Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 599 shares during the quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $137.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $125.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

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.