Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Position Lifted by Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 32.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises about 2.2% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 9,210,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,157,918,000 after acquiring an additional 756,116 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 2,761 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $9,366,000. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 23,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $130.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $209.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

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.