Captrust Financial Advisors Boosts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 158,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 35,399 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America cut their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $118.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $114.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

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.

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