CM Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake 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 fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $108.04 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $122.52 and a 200 day moving average of $124.42. 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 stock has a market cap of $174.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.49 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. 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 research note on Monday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.87.

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.