2,172 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Bought by Balefire LLC

Balefire LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,400,000 after buying an additional 42,743 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of 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 worth $62,804,000 after purchasing an additional 14,283 shares during the last quarter. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $4,513,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $5,686,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 21,090 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The sale 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 business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $125.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 1.26 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Eleven 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.