Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 27,845 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,857,000 after purchasing an additional 48,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, 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 a total of 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $99.65 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.86. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $103.25. The company has a market capitalization of $161.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.