Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Castle Wealth Management LLC

Castle Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $90.66. The company had a trading volume of 8,134,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,904,789. 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 has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $147.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.92.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. 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 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cfra upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.90.

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.