Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Has $1.42 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 87.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,665 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $136.69.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% 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 valued at $6,019,548 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $142.25. 3,646,848 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,675,872. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $145.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $131.67 and a 200 day moving average of $126.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.30.

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

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

Morgan Stanley 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.