Dock Street Asset Management Inc. Invests $3.27 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Dock Street Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 28,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,274,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.4% of Dock Street Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 5,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America lowered 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 note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $142.25. 3,646,848 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,674,329. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $145.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $132.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.71. The firm has a market cap of $228.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.30.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. 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 company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last three months. 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.