Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 7,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:MS opened at $144.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $129.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $144.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.62.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the insider owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.