Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Buys 618 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth approximately $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,801,000 after acquiring an additional 22,095 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,155 shares of company stock worth $16,723,094. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.90.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.64. 5,437,115 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,862,871. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.85. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The firm has a market cap of $147.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.