Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 65.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,230 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.57. 1,132,478 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,753,242. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market capitalization of $152.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

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.