TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 585,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,593,000 after acquiring an additional 102,554 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 8,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 18,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 5,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $2.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $89.14. 18,291,601 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,302,008. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $88.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.78. The company has a market cap of $145.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Cfra lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.66.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.