AJOVista LLC Buys New Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $167,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,043,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The company has a market cap of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $90.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.87.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cfra upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

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.