Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 111,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,944 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 10,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 272,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,407,000 after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,051,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,009,000 after buying an additional 87,047 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE MS traded down $1.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $90.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,639,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,587,248. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $147.89 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.58. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during 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 10.87%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.