AM Investment Strategies LLC Has $1.88 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,547 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 0.5% of AM Investment Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. AM Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Cfra boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $1.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $92.58. 6,769,715 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,779,114. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $150.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $89.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.31.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.