Accurate Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Accurate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,924 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $133.23.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $131.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,258,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,754. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $120.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.25. The company has a market cap of $211.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm 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 business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, 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 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.