Bearing Point Capital LLC Buys New Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bearing Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $119.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,680,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,372. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $114.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.46.

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.