3,896 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Bought by Advisor Resource Council

Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during 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 during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 499,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,804,000 after purchasing an additional 14,283 shares during the period. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $4,513,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $5,686,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the fourth 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0%

MS opened at $132.56 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $212.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company's 50-day moving average price is $123.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.18.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America decreased 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. 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $133.62.

About Morgan Stanley

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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