LVW Advisors LLC Has $1.08 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

LVW Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,284,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,645 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after purchasing an additional 517,446 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,392,000 after buying an additional 575,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $958,105,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of 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 upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.5 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $97.19 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $103.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.81. The firm has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 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.