3,131 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Bought by Kingsman Wealth Management Inc.

Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,131 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobsen Capital Management grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 2,212 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4%

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $142.03. The stock had a trading volume of 6,606,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,955,102. 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 has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $145.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 188,949 shares of company stock worth $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.