Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Boosted by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 511.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,731 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 63,337 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $1.69 during trading on Monday, reaching $143.97. 5,373,574 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,962,769. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $132.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.70. The firm has a market cap of $230.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.