Sunbelt Securities Inc. Acquires 159 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Union Savings Bank raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $95.77 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $96.37 and its 200 day moving average is $91.58. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $103.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market cap of $155.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.