Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Alta Advisers Ltd

Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 48.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,115 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $324,118,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider directly owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1%

MS stock traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $144.50. 3,959,053 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,666,623. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $144.54. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $231.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.83.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

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.