Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Buys 811 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6%

MS stock opened at $139.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.44.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.62.

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.