True Link Financial Advisors LLC Invests $268,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

True Link Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 42,743 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 499,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,804,000 after buying an additional 14,283 shares during the last quarter. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,513,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,686,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 21,090 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $132.45 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $123.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.62.

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.