Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 177,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,796 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $958,105,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $477,765,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $512,867,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $223,596,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $98.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.63. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25. The stock has a market cap of $160.84 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.