Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $26.99 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 231,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,061 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $26,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 30.1% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,294,000 after purchasing an additional 6,526 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.5% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 93,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,963,000 after acquiring an additional 13,977 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $105,000. YANKCOM Partnership raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 3,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Callan Capital LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 40.6% in the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 3,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $135.54.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded down $2.59 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $141.15. The stock had a trading volume of 6,620,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,701,346. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.27. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $145.16. The firm has a market cap of $226.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.