Sigma Planning Corp Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,592 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $915,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453,470 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.69. 10,609,559 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,633,898. The company's fifty day moving average is $133.48 and its 200-day moving average is $127.01. 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 firm has a market cap of $224.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $145.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.