Tritonpoint Wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tritonpoint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased 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 purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $324,118,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of MS opened at $129.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $207.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $121.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.18. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price 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. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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.