A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.80 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 755 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.5% of A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.8%

MS opened at $130.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $209.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $118.34 and its 200-day moving average is $125.29. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 2.83%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.