State of Alaska Department of Revenue Purchases 3,505 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,505 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $130.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.23 and a 200-day moving average of $125.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $208.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 43.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.