Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by AlphaCore Capital LLC

AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $324,118,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,731,000 after buying an additional 2,453,470 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MS stock opened at $126.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $202.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $116.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.52.

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 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.46.

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.