Procyon Advisors LLC Buys 3,066 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 32.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,066 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 810.8% in the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MS traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $93.87. 589,159 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,880,034. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $87.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.09.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

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.