Private Advisor Group LLC Buys 22,266 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,266 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NBT Bank N A NY grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 136.2% in the 3rd quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 7,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 4,060 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Gratus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,136,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,133,000 after buying an additional 349,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley & Associates acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $973,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.22. 678,539 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,365,111. The company has a market cap of $154.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $90.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cfra increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

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.