CVA Family Office LLC Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 259 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.23.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $129.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $207.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.

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.